Spyro's Tale 1 The Dragon Rises
by Storyteller 42
Summary: This is my first fanfic of The Legend of Spyro trilogy with changes in the plot and added characters. Hope you'll enjoy it.
1. Prologue - Temple Attack

**Hello, readers.**

 **Hope you all are feeling good today. This fanfiction is a re-version of The Legend of Spyro trilogy with my own OCs and little changes in the plot. I'm not expecting you to like it, just your honest opinions. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro trilogy.**

* * *

Prologue

Temple Attack

Dragons… You have heard about them in books of legends. Like all the others, you think Dragons were a stuff of make-believe. After all, they are not real. There is a little secret you and your entire human race have never realized before, Dragons ARE real, very real indeed. Your race may not have seen them in your world but they do exist in a different world beyond the realms in another dimension. There, you will learn all about us.

In Dragon Realm, the fantastical creatures of each race have lived in peace and harmony for generations. We, the Dragons, brought peace and harmony to this world ever since the First Age, the time we appeared, with our own elemental powers; Fire, Water, Earth, Electricity, Ice, Forest, and Wind. Our old Dragon leader had declared that we use our powers for good, defend our home and the other inhabitants. He became one of our first Dragon Guardians to hold council. The rest of our kind became warriors passing down their teachings to apprentices. As long as we live, we will protect the other races of creatures with our lives.

In the Second Age, one race of creatures had built places including the Dragon Temple for us in honor of their friendship with us. We have used the Temple for breeding our young on the Year of the Dragon that takes place every ten years.

The Third Age had begun when I, Ignitus, was born. Our old leader of the Dragon Guardians had passed away and the new lead Guardian and the others upheld his will to take good care of the world until the time had come for them to step down and let the new ones take their place. I was selected from a Dragon Guardian to be his student.

For the Fourth Age, a remarkable discovery came before us; a special Dragon called a Purple Dragon with absolute power can appear in our world every ten generations, according to a prophecy from our Ancestors. With that Dragon, we became stronger than ever. The Fourth Age, however, was over quicker than the others. A terrible thing had happened.

The Fifth Age was where the war took place. An enemy greater than ever before arose from our midst, an evil one who was known as the Dark Master, Malefor. Malefor was more powerful, more powerful than the Guardians before us had ever encountered. He was cruel, menacing, ruthless, and he commanded an army of creatures to be feared. His purpose forever more was to destroy everything around Dragon Realm. The Dragon Guardians and the others tried their best to stop Malefor before he achieved his victory. But, they would not be alone in this fight. They would need a Purple Dragon to defeat the greatest villain. Sadly, there have been many who appeared and they had died trying. War still raged on and the Guardians were beginning to lose hope until the last Purple Dragon was born ten generations ago. He was the first to defeat Malefor. We had victory on our side. The Guardians locked the Dark Master away in a place where none of his followers could ever set him free.

Years went by, the old Guardians have stepped down and the Purple Dragon who defeated Malefor had died of old age. I had been dubbed as the new leader of the new Guardians; Volteer, Cyril, Terrador, and Whisperav. But all is not over yet. The Dark Armies are still at war with us, looking for a way to bring back their Dark Master. Hopefully, another Purple Dragon will appear to finish the war once and for all and restore peace to Dragon Realm.

* * *

In the Dragon Temple in a forest at night, I, Ignitus, Dragon Guardian of Fire, am on my way to the Nesting Chamber where all the Dragon eggs lie. A purple egg is among them. A Purple Dragon is about to be born. I fold my dark-red wings and rest them on my back as I enter the halls. The glow of the torches on the walls reveal my red eyes, crooked horns on my head, red scales, underbelly and membranes on my wings that are colored tan, the dark-red claws on my feet, and the dark-red, flame-shaped fins on the back of my lower jaw, my spine, my shoulder, and on the tip of my tail.

My Dragon apprentice, Emberor, walks by my side. He is one of six hatchlings who have hatched earlier than the others. He folds his dark-red wings on his back. His scales and eyes are colored red. His two horns on his head and his underbelly is colored tan. The flame-shaped fins are on his spine, wing arms, and tail. The dark-red claws on his feet tap on the stone floor.

We approach a circular door leading to the Nesting Chamber. I released a stream of Fire from my mouth. The flames go through three circles on the door and the door opens. The two of us go inside to see colorful Dragon eggs in warm colorful blankets in big baskets. A fireplace warms the room from the back. The purple egg is in a little basket resting on a golden pedestal ahead of us in a warm purple blanket underneath it next to a wall with a purple flag hanging on it.

"We have hope again, don't we, master?" says Emberor, gazing at the egg.

"Yes, Emberor," I say with a nod, "the Purple Dragon has come like the prophecy had foretold. Once it's old enough, we have to train it for battle. It won't be long now."

"Ignitus, that reminds me, how much longer do I have to be an apprentice before I become Dragon master of Fire?"

"I have taught you so much, young Dragon," I answer, turning my attention from the egg to Emberor. "You are becoming very experienced but you are no master yet. Remain patient and you will be some day."

Emberor nods in reply. He is doing his best to be patient for becoming a master fighting alongside with his friends. Still, it has been hard. Suddenly, an earthquake comes in the Temple. We glance around.

"What was that?" Emberor asks in alarm.

I stop moving with apprehension pulsing in my blood. I know what is causing the room to shake.

"No, not now," I breathe. "The Dark Armies are here."

The young Fire Dragon gasps and an old Electric Dragon comes into the Nesting Chamber. He has yellow eyes, yellow scales, curved horns pointed forward, gray fins on the back of his lower jaw, his shoulders, his spine, the back of his front legs, his hind legs, and his tail. His underbelly, claws, wing arms, and two blades on the tip of his tail are colored black. He is named Volteer, Dragon Guardian of Electricity.

"Save them," Volteer pants. "We must save the eggs! The Dark Armies are getting close to the Temple!"

There are so many eggs in the Nesting Chamber. Time is short to save them.

"Master, we got to save the Purple Dragon first!" Emberor suggests.

"Indeed," I say, glancing to him. To both of the Dragons, I say, "I will take care of it! You stay here and guard these eggs! I will be back as soon as I can!"

I take the purple egg from its resting place and run to the door. Five young Dragons come inside the Nesting Chamber with Emberor and Volteer.

Boltor, an Electric Dragon, has yellow eyes and scales. His lightning-shaped horns, lightning-shaped wing arms, the underbelly, claws, and fins on his spine and tail are colored black.

Aquadus, a Water Dragon, has water wave shaped fins on his spine, wing arms, and tail, blue eyes, blue scales, four coral-like horns, gills, fish fin-like wings, and dark-blue claws.

Groverge, a Forest Dragon, has green scales, green eyes, brown fins on his spine, peach-colored underbelly, leaf-shaped fin on his tail, brown claws, and horns and wing arms that are like tree branches.

Zephyrav, a Wind Dragoness, has sky-blue feathers on her body and wings, sapphire eyes with long eyelashes, two horns on her head, a blue bird's beak, a lighter-blue underbelly, round dark blue fins aligned with the spine, and long talons on her feet.

Cragen, an Earth Dragon, has emerald-green scales, two tan horns on the head, one tan horn on the nose, green eyes, a lengthen fin on his spine that are like mountains, a tan underbelly, tan claws, and a ball with spikes on the tip of the tail.

"Cragen, how many of them are they out there?" Emberor asks him.

The Earth Dragon answers, "Enough to break the doors down."

"If any of those Apes get their filthy hands on one egg, I'll show them no mercy!" Groverge declares with a stern tone.

"Not without us, Groverge," a voice sound at the entrance of the Nesting Chamber.

The young Dragons turn around to see two more adult Dragons coming in. They are Terrador, Dragon Guardian of Earth and Cyril, Dragon Guardian of Ice.

Terrador has green scales, green eyes, a lengthen brown beard under the chin, big sideburns, ram-like horns, a tan color on the underbelly and the green wing arms, brown jagged horns on his shoulders and aligned on his head and spine, a ball with five spikes around it on the tip of the tail, and brown claws.

Cyril's eyes are blue. He has light blue scales, a horn on his nose, crooked lips, spikes under his chin like icicles, straight horns, a purple colored underbelly and wings, skeletal-like wing arms, purple fins with white outlines on the back of his lower jaw, shoulders, back of the front legs, hind legs, spine, and tail, spikes on the tip of the tail, and icicle claws.

"All apprentices and masters prepare to fight," Cyril tells them.

"Wait, where's my mother?" Zephyrav asks Cyril.

"She's outside doing her best to keep them away. She will come back here when she has done her best."

They form a line facing the only door where the enemy will come from.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, I fly above the forest outside of the Temple seeing the Dark Armies of vicious monkey-like creatures coming closer to it. I fly as fast as I can to a giant mushroom forest next to the Silver River flowing down stream. Once I have landed next to the river, I found a small mushroom cap on the ground for the egg to float on. I put the mushroom cap with the egg on top in the river and the current takes it further away from the Temple.

"May the Ancestors look after you," I say, wishing my luck to the egg, "may they look after us all."

* * *

 **Be sure to leave a review down below and have a nice day!**


	2. Chapter 1 - Birth of Spyro

.

Chapter 1

Birth of Spyro

It was morning and the purple egg was still resting on the mushroom cap moving slowly with the current of the Silver River. Eventually, the egg came to rest in a distant swamp where a race of Glowing Dragonflies lived. A blue male Glowing Dragonfly named Flash and his wife named Nina, a pink Glowing Dragonfly, found the egg on the mushroom cap floating on the water. They were all wondering what magnificent creature could possibly live inside. They did not have to wonder for long. The egg began to hatch. A baby male Purple Dragon broke the egg into pieces and began to cry. The sight of the baby Purple Dragon frightened the Glowing Dragonflies at first, but finally amazed and astonished them. They decided to adopt and raise him as one of their own. They named him Spyro and he grew up to be a young Dragon alongside Sparx, the young yellow Glowing Dragonfly who was born on the same day. In fact, the two of them were almost like brothers. And a more oddly-matched, yet compatible pair of brothers the world had never seen. As for Spyro, he, like all of us, accepted the world into which he was born believing he was one of the Glowing Dragonflies, a big purple one of them true but one of them nonetheless.

* * *

Spyro is somewhere in the swamp with patches of grass, green ponds, and mushrooms playing hide-and-seek with Sparx. He has purple scales, a yellow underbelly, yellow horns on his head, yellow fins aligned on his spine, and a yellow fin on the tip of his tail. He covers his face with his yellow wings while counting in front of a tree.

"…seven…eight…nine…ten," he counts and then turns around opening his purple eyes and looks around. "Ready or not, here I come!"

He searches for Sparx in the bushes, then the trees. When Spyro walks past another tree, Sparx sneaks up from behind. He glows bright yellow. He slaps Spyro with his three-fingered hand on the tail. Spyro yelps and turns around to see him.

"Hey," Spyro laughs.

"Never catch me this time, purple boy!" Sparx shouts triumphantly, flapping his dragonfly-like wings rapidly to get away.

Spyro chases after him through the swamp. He loses sight of him again when Sparx makes a zigzag move in the air and darts to the right. Spyro looks around the trees if he had hidden in one of them. He gazes at a spot on the branches. A shadow is shown behind the leaves, light shining around it. Spyro knows perfectly who that could be.

"I see you, my glowing friend," Spyro says playfully, narrowing his eyes at the glowing speck while smirking.

Sparx comes out of hiding arms crossed and says, "Seeing and catching are two different things, big boy." He flies away again.

"Yeah, you better run!" Spyro hollers chasing after his brother.

This time for sure, he believes, he will get him. But he thought wrong when Sparx flies through a ring of branches and ascends in the air until he stops ten feet high. He looks down at Spyro.

"What's the matter, little Spyro?" he calls playfully. "You can't fly? Ahh, that's right. You walk everywhere. Hmm, that's too bad."

Spyro chuckles, "You're toast when I catch you!"

Sparx resumes flying away and Spyro chases him. It is true the Purple Dragon walks everywhere in the swamp. For all his life, he has never flown. His wings do not move like the Glowing Dragonflies' wings do. The other young Glowing Dragonflies bully him for that and other stuff about not glowing. Spyro's parents told him he was born different and it was nothing to be ashamed of. They keep reminding him to be himself. Sparx was the only one to make fun of him in a gentle way like all brothers do.

Spyro finds Sparx again in a clearing with a big tree in the center. Sparx has his arms behind his head inhaling the air through his nose. "Aaah, must be tough to lose all the time, Sp-"

Suddenly, a plant-like creature, with a stem that seems like a fat body, four crab-like arms, and a wide mouth rises from the ground behind Sparx, cutting him off. These creatures are called Frogweeds and they live in swamps that catch insects with their tongues and eat them slowly. The Glowing Dragonflies stay alert at all times if any of them dares to pop out. Spyro, on the other claw, can take care of these foul creatures just fine with his trusted horns.

The Frogweed shoots a long tongue out and it strikes Sparx on the back. It yanks it back to its mouth swallowing him whole.

"Alright," Sparx hollers loud, his voice muffles inside the Frogweed's stomach, "let me outta here, you overgrown fungus! Spyro, seriously, lend me a hand, will ya, brother?"

"Gee, Sparx, I dunno," Spyro shrugs, smirking. "Frogweed's gotta eat, too."

"Spyro, whack it!" the yellow Glowing Dragonfly irritably yells at his brother. "Do something! I'm your buddy! My wings are getting moldy!"

"Okay, okay, just a minute."

Spyro trains his eyes on the Frogweed. He dashes forward with his horns lowered. He crashes into the creature's belly and walks backwards away from it. The Frogweed makes rumble and gurgling noise before spitting Sparx out. Sparx flies out and sticks to Spyro's chest. The Frogweed shrinks back down in the ground croaking uncomfortably. Sparx gradually peels off of Spyro's chest and falls to the ground covered in olive-green slime.

"Ugghhh," Sparx groans in front of Spyro, wiping his face. "Now I smell as bad as you do." He hovers in the air and chuckles, "Oooh, and that's pretty bad. See ya later, sucker!" He resumes flying away from his brother, the game still on.

"So much for gratitude," Spyro says to himself with a frown.

He resumes chasing him. He slides down a hill slope to help him go faster. Spyro finds Sparx again. The Glowing Dragonfly is hovering below a dark cave.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Spyro says irritating. "We're not allowed in there! It's forbidden."

"Ah, pffft," Sparx scoffs, "excuses, excuses. Catch up or give up, chunky."

Sparx flies inside the cave without hesitation.

"Sparx, come back here!" Spyro calls. He rolls his eyes with a groan, "oh, brother."

Spyro enters the forbidden cave to look for his brother before they both get into big trouble. Spyro has always been pedantic about rules but Sparx does not care about them and takes things too lightly. That frustrates the Purple Dragon sometimes.

Inside the cave, everywhere is dark. The sound of the wind echoes through it. Spyro walks slowly being very careful watching his every step for whatever could be in here. He glances around for any signs of glowing light from Sparx hoping to find him quickly.

"Where did that glowing bug go?" he wonders. He starts calling, "Sparx?"

There is no response from his best friend. He moves on searching until, he hears a scream of fright. That scream he knew came from Sparx.

"Sparx!" Spyro exclaims fearfully.

Spyro runs through the rest of the cave and to his relief, he is out of the cave into the open. A hill with a ledge stands in front of him. On the ledge, three menacing, hunch-back, sharp-tooth, monkey-like creatures look down at Spyro with their full black eyes. Their long faces are covered with white paint. Their noses are painted red, their mouths are painted blue, and on their cheeks are lines of yellow and blue colors. They have gray beards and sideburns, a ring of gray fur around the shoulders, green pimples on their olive-green skin, and long tails with gray fur at the tip. They are both wearing purple colored gauntlets and boots. The big one in the middle wears a purple colored helmet with a metal beak shielding his eyes. Sparx is in a small cage held by the big monkey creature. The big creature stares at Spyro in disbelief.

"I thought all youz guys was gone!" the big creature grunts.

"Excuse me?" Spyro asks bewildered.

"You miserable coward," Sparx yells at the big creature, while grasping the cage's bars. "Let me go!"

"Shut up," the big monkey-like creature yells, holding Sparx close to his drooling face. He glances back at the Purple Dragon and tells his comrades, "Let's get that little one too!"

The three of them jump off the ledge to land in front of Spyro. The big creature's comrades point the dreadful claw-shaped blades of their spears at him as they come closer to him. Spyro walks backwards, feeling frightened.

"Let me outta here and fight like a…thing…whatever you are, you pathetic wretch!" Sparx threatens the big monkey creature.

The big monkey creature growls in frustration and tells his comrades to stop for a moment. "I've had about enough of you," he shouts at Sparx. He throws the cage to the ground. **"** Allow me to squash you like a berry!"

The big creature takes out a mace with spikes from his back.

"No!" Spyro pleads him. "Don't hurt him!"

"Or what?" the creature growls, "you can't make me!"

He raises his mace over his head ready to strike Sparx. Spyro feels really angry at him for trying and do this.

"NO!" he screams.

Suddenly, a stream of fire comes out of his mouth as he screams. It hits the ground in front of the Apes and Sparx. The Apes screech in fright and back away from the fire.

"Whoa!" exclaims Sparx, "was that fire, dude?"

Spyro was too stunned to answer. He has no idea how that happened.

"I should've known better!" the big creature growls. He turns to his comrades who are trying to hide behind him from the fire while he put his mace back where he got it out from. "Let's get out of here!"

All of them run away from Spyro and out of the swamp hooting wildly leaving the imprisoned Sparx behind.

"Get me outta here, Spyro," Sparx shouts, pulling on the cage bars. "I think my wings are singed!"

Spyro removes the lock on the door and opens the cage. He is glad his brother is not hurt and can still fly.

"You okay?" he asks.

"'Okay'?" Sparx shouts in panic."You almost torched me, dude! That was very strange."

Without wasting more time, Spyro and Sparx run back through the cave to where their mother and father live. The Purple Dragon still could not believe he shot fire out of his mouth.

" _What is happening to me?_ " he wonders in his head.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Journey Begins

.

Chapter 2

The Journey Begins

That night, Spyro and Sparx are home with their parents, Flash, the blue Glowing Dragonfly, and Nina, the pink Glowing Dragonfly at dinner. The other colorful Glowing Dragonflies' bodies are lighting up the swamp like living torches. To Spyro, it is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen since he was a baby despite the fact that he does not glow.

While they ate their supper, leaves and water, Sparx tells them everything that happened in the swamp with the hide-and-seek and the monkey creature incident. The parents are not pleased to hear about the part where he entered the forbidden tunnel as he continues.

"So, I'm just about ready to blow the top off that place and kick the guy's booty when Spyro let loose some serious flame, dude! No joke! Flames from the mouth!"

"Well, I was just trying to help," Spyro says to Sparx. "But I didn't know that would happen."

"Some help," Sparx huffs, turning to Spyro. "You nearly turned me into ashes, dude." He turns back to his parents. "Mom, Dad, you shoulda seen him! He came out breathing fire, alright? I tell you, it was crazy!"

The mother and father exchange glances with each other. There expressions are unreadable for the two brothers.

"You don't believe me?" the yellow Glowing Dragonfly says, dropping his mouth in disbelief. "Spyro, tell 'em!"

"It's true, Dad," Spyro promises. "I swear. I just got real mad, opened my mouth, and whoosh, Flame City."

Nina gives Flash a nod and he nods back. Flash glances at the two brothers. "It's not that, Spyro," he said. "I believe you both. It's just that your mother and I knew this day would come."

"Day?" Spyro asks in confusion. "What day?"

"The day when we would have to tell you the truth," he replies.

Spyro's eyes grow wide; there had been a secret about him. Spyro's father begins to tell him everything that really happened. Spyro learns he is not a Glowing Dragonfly after all but in fact, an exile from an unknown distant land.

"So…" he began feeling down. "You mean…I'm not your real son?"

"You ARE our real son." Nina assures Spyro. "It's just that you came from somewhere else. Far away, where wars rage on and on and the innocent seem to always pay the price."

Spyro feels the need to have answers for his questions. Who is he? Where does he belong? It was later that night that Spyro decided to venture forth and find his true home.

* * *

On the next morning, Spyro is at the center of the Glowing Dragonfly homeland. Every Glowing Dragonfly, young and old, had heard of his leaving and has come to wish him luck. Sparx flies in and hovers in front of him. He seems disappointed with his arms crossed.

"So, that's it, huh?" he states curtly. "Leaving your brother, Sparx, behind at old homestead? Not a care in the world, don't look back."

"This is your home, Sparx." Spyro says, reasoning with him. "I just found out that my home is somewhere else and I've gotta find it. Besides, I'm not leaving you behind. I'm leaving you where you belong."

Sparx still looks unsatisfied. "Well, I thought I belong with you," he says. "Coz, I'm always with you. But, I guess I was wrong, huh? I'm sure I'm wrong on a lot of things. You know what? You're right. I'm wrong."

The young yellow Glowing Dragonfly flies away not saying goodbye.

"Sparx, wait!" Spyro yells.

Sparx didn't stop to reply back. The Purple Dragon sighs softly. Never would he try to break his brother's heart. It feels like it will be the last time he will see him. Then he sees his mother and father hovering to him.

"Don't worry about Sparx, Spyro," Flash chuckles. "You know how hotheaded he can be. You'll see him when you get back."

But Spyro is unsure if he can come back. What if he will never see them again? That thought makes him drop his head in sadness.

"Now, now, son," says Flash soothingly. "Keep your head up, your nose clean, and use that breath of yours wisely. All gifts come with a price."

Spyro shakes his head in embarrassment. Nina lifts his head, wanting him to look at her.

"Don't listen to your father's preaching, Spyro," she says warmly. "Just be yourself. It's all any of us can do."

Spyro slowly nods in agreement, "Yeah, okay, Mom"

Flash places one hand on his cheek, smiling, "Good luck out there, kiddo."

Spyro smiles back, "Thanks, Dad"

"We love you," Nina says.

"I love you guys, too."

So, hard as it is, he leaves the only home and family he had ever known and begins his journey to where, he does not know. The Glowing Dragonflies of Dragonfly Swamp say their goodbyes to him and wishing him luck.

* * *

Somewhere in the mushroom forest, Spyro walks even farther away from his home, much farther than he had ever been. He feels home-sick already. He keeps telling himself to keep moving and not worry about it right now. Then, he hears something rustling in the fungus growth. His pupils shrink in shock. He glances around to see if he is being followed.

"Hello?" Spyro calls, breaking the silence in the air. "Is anyone there?"

No response occurred. Spyro's legs tremble with fright. He resumes walking slowly this time. He stays alert for anything that might happen. Then, something touches Spyro's tail. He screams in surprise and turns around fast to see a Glowing Dragonfly in front of his face.

"Oh, Sparx!" he breathes in relief. "It's you! What are you doing here? I thought you were staying where you belong."

"Well, uh," Sparx smiles. "The old man and I were chatting and this whole belonging thing, you know, came up, and we decided that…best friends belong together. Even if one of them is purple and does have some weight issues."

"Weight issues, huh?" Spyro smiles back. "At least I've never been turned into a lantern."

"Oh, please, lantern, shm-antern. Let's see what's out there."

"Yeah, let's go."

Together, they travel through the forest on their way to where they thought Spyro's home must be. He cannot help but think how fantastic it is to have his own foster brother with him on this adventure. He will never be alone as long as Sparx is at his side.

* * *

They walk between some mountains leading to another opened area. All is peace and quiet when suddenly they hear a monstrous roar that came out of nowhere. They look at each other feeling scared and run to the other side of the clearing, screaming for their lives.

"Breathe, Sparx old boy!" Sparx shouts to himself. "Go to your happy place!"

They have reached the other side of the clearing and find a cave in front of them. They breathe heavily from all that running.

"What in the world was that?" Spyro wonders out loud.

"I have no idea!" Sparx laughs excitedly, pointing at the cave. "But I'm going this way…far away from it."

"Right behind you," Spyro sighs.

While Spyro and Sparx run to the cave, Sparx glances to the right and screams again which made Spyro jump.

"What?" he tells him.

"Was it just me or did that root just moved?"

Spyro looks at the long and splintered tree root poking out of the green ground of the swamp Sparx is pointing at. It did not seem to have moved to him.

"Come on, Sparx." Spyro says. "That was just you. Let's go."

Sparx turns to the Purple Dragon walking to the cave with his finger pointing at the root. "Spyro, I'm telling you, that root seriously moved. No doubt about it. It's as if it was sneaking up on me, just waiting to pounce."

Quickly, the tree root slithers along the ground and wraps around Sparx. He screams in fright it makes Spyro turn around again.

"I hate Frogweeds!" Sparx muffled voice came from within the root's grasp. "Why do they always pop out of nowhere all of the sudden?"

"Uh, Sparx," Spyro says, staring at the root. "That's not a Frogweed. You were right. The root was moving."

"Since when did you start listening to me?"

Then, another tree root strikes out from the ground and wraps around Spyro squeezing his legs and head.

"What the…?" Spyro exclaims panicking. "Hey! Let go! Let go!"

The root didn't release him. It continued wrapping him up completely. Spyro and Sparx are trapped.

"Oh, this is not good," Spyro grunts in the grasp of the root tentacle.

"Help," Sparx tries to call out. "Anyone help…please!"

After a few minutes, a young male green reptile-like creature with tree branch-like horns and wings, a leaf fin on his tail, and green eyes, crawls down from a tree's trunk, facing the captives in the roots with a glare.

"Who are you two?" the creature growls. "What do you want?"

"Oh, just in time!" Sparx hollers feeling thrilled "Someone comes in to rescue us!"

The leaf tailed creature digs his brown claws into the ground and the roots squeezed them tightly. Spyro and Sparx both grunt in pain.

"I gave you two questions. Now, answer them!" the creature snaps at them.

"Listen, whoever you are," Spyro asks frighten. "What's going on and what did we do?"

"TELL ME! WHAT DO YOU WANT!?"

Then, a young bird-like creature with two horns on her head, sapphire eyes, feathered body and wings, a blue scaly underbelly, and eagle-like talons swoops in from the sky and lands at the male creature's side.

"Stop, Groverge!" she instantly tells him. "Calm down! They're not a threat to us."

"You don't know that," growls at the lizard creature named Groverge, gazing at her. "There have always been spies everywhere in the world seeking us out."

"I know! But how can we tell if these two are spies if you don't let them talk? Instead of hurting them, give them a chance."

Groverge looks back at the roots squeezing Spyro and Sparx tighter. He feels so mad he wants to end this. But then, he is convinced the female bird creature is right. There is no way he can tell whether they are friend or foe. Groverge's claws spread out on the ground and the roots release Spyro and Sparx.

"All right, who are you?" he asks calming down.

"Oi," Sparx yells panting. "Give me a minute! I need to breathe!"

Spyro massages his ankles and head getting rid of the aches. He looks at the two strangers and to his amazement, the light blue feathered creature and the green lizard creature, named Groverge, are like him, only taller. He takes a step back now the bird creature is staring at him with her beak opened.

"Groverge?" she calls not taking her eyes off Spyro.

"What," he asks, turning his gaze away from Sparx.

Groverge sees Spyro at last without the roots. He stares at him with amazement. All the staring is making Spyro feel uncomfortable.

"Is it…?" Groverge gasps. "Could it be…?

"It is!" the female yells happily. "He survived!

"Huh?" says Spyro.

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave a review and have a nice day.**

 **P.S. Just want you you to know, my OCs (the young Dragons) are teenagers like Spyro was in "The Legend of Spyro 3 Dawn of the Dragon".**


	4. Chapter 3 - Enlighten

.

Chapter 3

Enlighten

This brings us to the moment that Spyro's journey really begins, when he and I finally meet…again…for the very first time.

* * *

At first, Spyro and Sparx thought they were going to die from the sneak attack and wrath of a male lizard-like creature with a leaf on his tail and branch-like horns, named Groverge, but then they were released due to the blue-feathered bird-like creature pleading with him. For that, they were grateful. Now, Spyro is feeling like his feet are frozen on the ground. The two strangers are staring at him as if he was treasure.

"I can't believe it! He's actually alive!" the female bird shouts happily.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on," Spyro interrupts the excitement. "You know who I am?"

Bewildered, Groverge tilts his head to one side with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, we do. You know who you are, don't you?"

"No," the Purple Dragon shakes his head. "As a matter of fact, I don't. I've been raised by Glowing Dragonflies and when I got older, my parents told me that I came from somewhere else. We're trying to find where I belong. Do any of you have a clue where that might be?"

"Oh, yes," the bird creature nods. "We have the answers you're looking for. But we can't talk here. It's not safe. Come with us."

"Where are we going?" Spyro asks.

"To the cave you were going to. It leads to our hiding place," she says, pointing her wing at it.

"Oh, right," Sparx says, nodding in understatement. "That's why green boy was totally tense on us."

"Watch it, buddy," Groverge snaps, jerking his head close to Sparx.

"Whoa! Okay!" Sparx exclaims with his hands to protect himself. "I meant no offense."

Groverge says nothing more but moves to the cave with the bird creature following him at his side.

"Calm down, Groverge," she tells him softly.

Spyro and Sparx are interested in this turn of event. They follow the two into their lead to the secret hiding place.

* * *

While the two strangers take the two friends deeper into the cave, another male reptile-like creature with blue scales, coral-like horns, and fish fin-like wings appears and sees the Purple Dragon with his blue eyes. He stares at Spyro in astonishment.

"Groverge, is that…?" he began.

"It is," Groverge interrupts with a nod. "Let's find Ignitus."

The blue creature, without saying any further words, walks with the green scaled creature and the blue feathered creature to where I, Ignitus am waiting. They finally enter a cavern and Spyro sees four more reptile-like creatures that are like him. The three young ones are a little taller than him and I was the biggest.

One has yellow scales with gray lightning-shaped horns and wings.

The second has dark green scales with two horns on his head, one horn on his nose, a spiked ball tail, and dark green eyes.

And the third has red eyes, red scales, dark-red talons, and flame-shaped fins on his spine, wings, and tail.

Between them, I, with red scales, fins shape like flames, huge wings, and red eyes, am lying on the ground. The young ones and I look at Spyro in shock.

"And here I thought you guys were the biggest," Sparx tells the young creatures while he and Spyro look at me, surprisingly. "Goodness."

I recover from the shock. "You're…you're alive," I stammer. I feel happy but then I drop my head in hopelessness. "But now it's too late…too late."

"What?" says the young red-scaled creature surprisingly, glancing at me. "No! It's not too late, master!"

Spyro, on the other hand, does not know what this is all about.

"Too late for what?" he asks bewildered. "Who are you guys? Do you really know me? Where did I come from? What are you? What are we? WHAT AM I?"

All of us, except Groverge and the blue feathered creature, look at Spyro again confused.

"You mean you don't know?" I say.

"Does it sound like he knows?" Sparx asks rhetorically.

"You're a Dragon." I explain "We're all Dragons. When you were just an egg, it was my job to protect you. It was OUR job…to protect ALL of you."

"There are others?" Spyro asks in amaze.

"There WERE others," The young Dragon with the spiked-ball tail steps in.

I can see straight away that this Purple Dragon is in need of answers.

"Long ago, there was us and the other four, Dragon Guardians that is, and we had one job, ensure that all the eggs hatched. It was the Year of the Dragon, after all, and our very survival depended on those eggs. But the Temple and Grotto are now gone, Overrun by…"

"Temple?" Spyro interrupts, a spark of interest catches him. "What Temple? Can you take me? Can I see it? Where I came from, I mean?"

"No, no," I shake his head. "Who knows what forces occupy the Temple now. What state it's in. You don't understand. After they came for you…"

"'They?'" Spyro interrupts again. "Who are 'they'? And why did they come for me?"

"The Dark Armies, Apes," I answer. "They came for you to kill you because a prophecy spoke of a Purple Dragon, a legendary Dragon born only once every ten generations, you."

"'You'?" Sparx says. He gestures his hand to Spyro. "Does that mean him? Wait, this guy, Spyro?"

The older Dragons and I nod in response.

Sparx laughs. "I think you might have mixed that one up," he says. "Whoo, that's a little…bit of a stretch." While Spyro shakes his head in embarrassment. "I've heard some, uh, doozies in my day but that takes the cake."

"Whoa," the blue-scaled Dragon tells the yellow Glowing Dragonfly. "Wait a minute. You said this Purple Dragon's name is Spyro?"

"Duh, yeah," Sparx sarcastically says.

"Spyro," says the yellow scaled Dragon. "That's a good name."

"Well, Spyro," I say, calling his name. "I assure you I'm telling the truth. The Dark Armies attacked and they intended to destroy the eggs and kill the rest of us. They nearly succeeded and they laid siege to the other islands as well. We were at war,"

I begin telling Spyro what happened while he was with the Glowing Dragonflies.

"For many years, we fought all over Dragon Realm. Brutal clashes with the armies of the Dark Master, Malefor, who was intent on preventing the prophecy from coming true. The other four Dragon Guardians including myself, Ignitus, led our small but valiant forces into battle after battle against our ruthless, mercenary foe. But, then, when we were beginning to turn the tide…Cynder came."

"Cynder?" Spyro says, eyes widening.

"Yeah," the young red-scaled Dragon nods, "Cynder, loyal servant of Malefor himself."

"Cynder was…" I explain and cleared my throat before going any further. "…is monstrous, horrific, and ferocious, a black Dragon that fills the sky with terror, an unstoppable force of nature…"

"Ah, yeah," Sparx interrupts. "You had me at, ferocious. Sounds like the thing that was chasing us, Spyro."

Spyro agrees to that. He and his foster brother had heard the terrifying roar of a creature when they were walking in the swamp.

I make a curt nod, "Yes, Cynder still searches for us. Worst of all, Cynder still searches for me." I continue with my tale, "I watched as Cynder destroyed our Dragon warriors and plucked the other Guardians from the fields of battle, like they were so many ripe grapes from a vine. Without them, our cause was lost. Only I have managed to escape along with these young Dragons. Not that it matters," I conclude. "Cynder now rules all…and we sit here wondering what might have been, what else I might have done."

"But we haven't lost hope, master." The red-scaled Dragon tells me. "Spyro has appeared and that gives us a chance to fight back. With him, we'll stand up against Cynder."

"Emberor," the blue feathered Dragoness smiles at the red scaled Dragon. "I like your attitude."

"I agree with Emberor too," says the yellow-scaled Dragon.

"Count me in!" says the blue-scaled Dragon.

"Time for some payback!" the Dragon with the spiked ball tail declares.

"Wow," Sparx says to Spyro, feeling fascinated. "This is sounding…fun. I wanna hang out with these guys."

"Yeah," Spyro nods agreeing. He glances at me and says, "Why have you given up? I just found out I'm this legendary Dragon and you tell me all is lost? That I have no home or family left? I've come too far to give up now. I wanna see where I came from."

Sparx flies in front of Spyro's face with hands out and says, "Hold on, savior boy. Were you not listening to this guy? He's talking about Dragons, and war, and horrible…this is bad stuff, alright. I don't know if we're hearing the same thing."

"Yes, Spyro," I say, agreeing with Sparx. "It's not as simple as that." To all the Dragons, I add, "It is true the prophecy spoke of a Purple Dragon destined to put his stamp on this Age, but they did not foretell the devastation that surrounds us now."

"Maybe you're right but I'm willing to try. I want to take the first step." Spyro insists.

"You're actually going to go along with this lunatic?" Sparx says frowning.

"Oi," Emberor shouts, "That's my master you're talking about!"

"What?" Sparx says, glancing at Emberor and gasps, "ooh, sorry. My bad."

I take a deep cleansing breath, "Very well, then. We'll go. You deserve to see your beginning before it all ends. Follow us."

I got up on my feet and walk through another tunnel leading to the Temple with the Dragons, including Spyro, following. Sparx holds back and calls after Spyro, "Am I the only one sane here? He's telling us we're doomed, alright. That's when I go, 'Ah, maybe we should go back to the forest with the flowers and the fun stuff'."

He catches up with them when Spyro asks the older Dragons, "So, what are your names?"

"Aquadus," the blue-scaled Dragon says.

"Boltor's the name," the yellow-scaled Dragon says.

"Groverge, but you knew that," the green-scaled Dragon mutters.

"Emberor," the red-scaled Dragon introduces himself.

"I'm Cragen," says the dark green-scaled, spike ball tailed Dragon.

"And my name's Zephyrav," the blue-feathered bird-like Dragoness introduces herself. "Call me Zeph."

Spyro smiles, "Nice to meet you all." He gestures his wing to the yellow Dragonfly and says, "And this is Sparx, my foster brother."

"Yo," Sparx says.

* * *

The Dragons and I have reached the Dragon Temple entrance. It is circular and made of solid stone. There are two small Dragon statues standing on their stone pedestals one each side of the door. The mouths on them are opened with their teeth showing and their wings curled. To Spyro, the way they stand almost looks like they are guarding the door. I notice there is a problem here with the doorway when I got close to it.

"Cynder's soldiers must have knocked the other two statues out of place," I say turning to the group. Then, I drop my head in hopelessness again murmuring, "Heathens."

"What other two statues?" Spyro asked.

"On the other side of this door are two statues like these. When all four statues are positioned correctly, the door opens."

"Yeah, good," Sparx utters. "I was never good at geometry."

"Spyro, we need you to get in there and move the statues back in place." I say.

"Me? How?" Spyro wonders.

I point my front leg at a hole on the right side of the circular structure. "There is a small tunnel on this side that animals use to accesses the caves. It will lead you to the inside. Cragen," I glance at the young Earth Dragon, "will you please help him with directions?"

"Yes, Ignitus," Cragen acknowledges with a dip of his head. "Come on, Spyro."

As he leads the way, Sparx quivers and his teeth begin to chatter.

"Yeah, animals, okay," he says to Spyro, forcing to smile. "You know what? You do that and I'll wait here."

Spyro just looks at Sparx with a raised eyebrow.

"Alright, alright," Sparx blurts out. "I'm coming."

Cragen, Spyro, and Sparx walk into the tunnel leading to the other side of the entrance. Everywhere inside is pitch black. Sparx's body glows revealing the walls and the ceiling. It was helpful to see where they are going until Spyro and Sparx came to another problem. At the end of the tunnel, there are two other tunnels going to different directions. But Cragen simply knew where to go. He has a good nose for navigating through earth structures. It was taking them a while to get through the tunnel with Sparx complaining about it going on and on.

"How much further now," Spyro asks Cragen.

"We're almost there," the young Earth Dragon says. "Just up ahead, there is a right we'll need to take and that will lead us to the other side of the entrance."

They took the right turn and the long tunnel led them to the other side of the doorway. All was very dark. Only Sparx with his glowing body gave light in the interior. He found the statues knocked over from their circular positions against the door. Spyro lifted one up straight and pushes it back onto the circle. Cragen places the second statue back in place. Suddenly, a rumble sound occurs and the door begins to open bringing daylight in to light up the hall. Torches on the walls appear out of the shadows. The Dragons and I walk in to meet Spyro, Cragen, and Sparx.

"Any trouble?" I say.

"Well, a little insect trouble," Spyro shrugs. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

"Little insect, my tail section," Sparx crosses his arms at Spyro.

Together, we walk through the halls of the entrance, Emberor and I breathing fire on the torches on the wall to light them. We stop in front of another door and I take a couple steps towards the door.

I say softly in front of the door, "The past is prelude, tomorrow a dim promise. Allow us entrance, do not reject us."

Spyro and Sparx exchange confused looks as to why am I talking to the door. We stand there waiting for something to happen.

"Is he making that up?" Sparx asks Emberor after a couple of seconds.

"No," says Emberor, shaking his head in concern. "Those words were supposed to open the door. Master, what's wrong."

"There's a disturbance," I respond, facing everyone. "It seems my fears have been realized, the Apes have desecrated the interior as well. Guess we will have to open it the old-fashioned way. Cragen, Groverge, Spyro, make your way through the connecting rooms in the tunnels, restoring every statue you can find."

The three young Dragons dip their heads in response and Cragen leads the way into the hole he, Spyro, and Sparx come out of on the other end of the hall. Sparx shines his body in the dark ahead of Cragen while he navigates. Then, they halt seeing two pathways in front of them.

"Let's split up," Cragen suggests to the Dragons and Sparx. "Groverge, you come with me to the right tunnel and Spyro and Sparx, you take the left tunnel."

The four of them split in two pairs and go through each tunnel. Spyro and Sparx have made it into the connecting room and found the statues displaced from their spots.

"Okay." Sparx says. He points at one of the statues, "How 'bout I'll put that statue in place…" He turns to Spyro, "and you will…"

Sparx stops talking seeing Spyro staring at a strange glowing crystal-like object stuck on the ground. Spyro lifts his left front leg and his foot touches the crystal. The object then releases colorful glowing energy which flows into his body. Spyro feels warmth from inside of himself. He sighs softly and backs away from it. He shakes his head heavily trying not to fall asleep from that relaxing feeling.

"Hey, Spyro, what was that about?" Sparx wonders coming to the Purple Dragon's side.

"I don't really know," he replies blinking his purple eyes. "I just felt like I had to touch it…and when I did, the power of a thousand suns surge through my body."

Sparx cocked an eyebrow and says slowly, "Right. Kay," then speaking normally, "Okay. Well, you know what? You should really get more sleep. Y'know, I'm going to stop bugging you at night. You really need to get eight hours."

"Forget I said anything," Spyro suggests, shaking his head. "Let's put the statues in place and meet up with Groverge and Cragen."

After Spyro and Sparx put the statues back in their recent place, they go back to where the two paths meet. Groverge and Cragen are standing in front of the tunnel leading back to the halls.

"Did you two put the two statues back in place?" Cragen asks when he glances at them.

Spyro and Sparx nod in response they have.

"Excellent," says Cragen, "let's head back."

The four of them have made it out of the tunnels and regroup with us back at the doors.

"Statues are in place." Spyro told me.

"Well done." I nod. I face the doors again and speak the words. "The past is prelude, tomorrow a dim promise. Allow us entrance, do not reject us."

Finally, the doors slid open. Behind the doorway, there is another door up ahead across an opened area with the mossy cobble stone floor and open up the sky above. I take the lead into the room with the young Dragons following.

I turn my attention to my apprentice as I walk and said, "You may be right, Emberor. There may be hope for us yet."

Emberor feels pleased to hear me say that.


	5. Chapter 4 - Fire Training

Chapter 4

Fire Training

The young Dragons and I, and Sparx, head to the other door that leads to the interior base of the Temple. I'm hoping there will be no danger inside. On the way, something caught Spyro's eye and made him stop. There are colorful crystal-like objects stuck on the ground. He had seen them before back in the tunnels.

"Spyro?" Zephyrav says interrupting his thoughts.

"Those things," Spyro says gazing at the crystals. "I saw one back in the tunnels."

Zephyrav looks at the objects and gasps in excitement. The other older Dragons come to Spyro's side wondering what he and Zephyrav are looking at. They see the crystals and they exchange exciting glances.

"Yes!" Aquadus hollers. "Score!"

"That's what we need, Spyro!" Cragen says, slapping him on the back hard which was painful to the Purple Dragon. "Good eye!"

The young Dragons all gather around the objects. Spyro stays where he is. He is confused as to why they would be drawn to them.

"Ignitus, what are they doing?" He asks me, aware I am standing beside him. "What are those things?"

"Those are Spirit Gems, a gift from the Dragon Ancestors." I reply.

"What kind of gift?" Spyro asks again.

"A gift that speaks across generations, a gift that empowers you with the spirit of the past, strengthening you with the wisdom of ages."

"Wow," says Sparx now flying to my face. "Can I have that gift?"

"It is for Dragons, Sparx." I tell him. "Not for Glowing Dragonflies.

"Oh, great," Sparx groans.

"Hey, Spyro," Boltor calls smiling big with his foot touching the one of the Spirit Gems. "You gotta touch one. It's unbelievable. I've missed this for a long time."

"But, I feel powerful already." Spyro says.

"You can have more. It's okay." Aquadus says.

Spyro looks at me and I jerk my head at the Gems. Spyro walks to one glowing green Gem and touch it with his left front foot. The Gem releases the energy within it and it flows inside Spyro's body. The feeling he felt before returned, it was so great he can relax.

"It's good, isn't it?" Emberor says standing next to Zephyrav who is rubbing her soft feathered head against a gem sighing quietly.

"Yeah," Spyro moans smiling, tilting his head up. "I feel so much better already."

"It is time we must go, young Dragons." I interrupt their happy energizing. "That is about enough."

The Dragon masters and apprentices and Spyro return to me after they have recovered.

"I wish we could stay like that forever," moans Boltor.

We approached the door leading to the base of the Temple. I stopped sensing something is wrong. I sigh deeply and turn the other way.

"What is it?" Zephyrav asks me.

I remain standing where I am at thinking if I should change my mind. I turn to Spyro with an expression of uncertainty, "Look, Spyro," I say "Perhaps we should turn back."

"What?" Spyro says disbelieving, "after coming this far?"

"If this door is closed, it means there are Apes behind it. It is how the Temple protects itself."

"Uh, yeah, doesn't work too well, does it?" Sparx says scratching his head.

Spyro turns to the red feathered Dragon. "What is he saying, Emberor?"

"What he's saying is the only way the door will open…" Emberor begins.

"Don't say it!" Sparx interrupts.

"…is if the Apes are kicked out of there?" Spyro puts in.

"Exactly," Emberor nods.

Sparx places his hands on his head in frustration. "Didn't I just say don't say it?"

"There must be some way to get them out so I can bury them deep underground," Groverge growls.

Spyro glances around the area coming up with options. When he sees two weakened pillars, an idea pops in his head. If he can knock down one of those, the Apes will come out to investigate. He runs to one of the weakened pillars.

"Spyro, what are you doing?" Aquadus calls.

When Spyro is next to one weakened pillar, he gives it a powerful kick with his back feet. The pillar collapses down and crashes to the ground hard so loud for the Apes to hear it.

"Oh, well that's one way to do it," Aquadus utters now understanding.

The doors open and a big group of Ape soldiers come out hooting menacingly with weapons in their hands. An Ape with black armor and a helmet with little slits for his eyes to see through steps out from the group.

"The Ape general," Aquadus says.

"Well, Ignitus," the general grumbles. "We nabbed your Guardian buddies but you managed to escape our clutches…until now."

I stand tall, my yellow eyes glowing. "Dragon masters and apprentices, to me," I holler.

Spyro gazes upon me in awe; I have got my confidence back. Emberor, Groverge, Aquadus, Boltor, Cragen, and Zephyrav form a defensive line close to me their legs bent and teeth bared.

"Stand back, you two, and let me show you what Dragons trained in the ancient ways can do." I told Spyro and Sparx.

Spyro and Sparx run to a safe spot next to the door they came in from and watched what happened next. The Ape general takes out a big broad sword and flicks it at all of us.

"Get them!" he screeches.

The Ape soldiers charge at us. Zephyrav flaps her wings and takes off in the air using her wings hard to blow a strong breeze on them. The Ape soldiers are blown back to the door. They get up on their feet and charge at us again. I inhale with my mouth and exhale a stream of fire out at some Ape soldiers burning them alive. One comes up to me and I give him a headbutt. Another one comes to my right side and I whip him with my tale. He goes flying crashing into another Ape soldier.

"Whoa!" Sparx says fascinated. "The big guy's got some moves!"

Not far from me, Aquadus sprays water from his mouth in the face of an Ape soldier holding a battle ax. Two come up behind him. The Water Dragon spins around and his fish fin-like wings hit them. Aquadus sees two more coming at him. He turns around and back kicks them both. Aquadus sees another Ape soldier coming in holding a spear with a dreadful claw-shaped blade. The Ape thrusts his spear forward and Aquadus grips it with his teeth to break off the blade. The Ape soldier looks at his destroyed spear and back to Aquadus in fright. He runs away screeching.

"You better run, flea bag!" Aquadus spats.

Emberor and Zephyrav are fighting back to back. One Ape soldier advances on Zephyrav with a battle ax. Zephyrav dodges the attack and gashes her claws into his ribs. The soldier screeches in pain. She kicks him away and scratches another soldier with her talons. A muscular Ape soldier jumps in with a spiked mace and Zephyrav blows wind at him that sends him straight to an earth wall. Emberor's wings light on fire. He flaps them to blow a Fire cloud at three Ape soldiers. One Ape soldier attacks him with a spear. Emberor dodges and grabs the spear with his foot. He breathes Fire on the Ape's fur. The Ape screeches with fright. He starts patting the fire away and Emberor slashes him with his claws on his foot. He sees five more soldiers coming out of the interior entrance.

"Zeph, give me some air!" Emberor tells her.

Zephyrav quickly stands in front of Fire Dragon and uses her wings to blow wind in front of him. Emberor inhales deeply with his mouth while the wind blows. Zephyrav flies out of his way. Emberor unleashes a huge fire stream and the Ape soldiers are turned to ash.

Eight Apes surround Cragen. Cragen turns into a ball with his head, wings, legs, and tale tucked in.

"Let's rock and roll!" he roars.

He rolls around freely knocking down every Ape soldier around him. He unwraps himself to stop rolling. His feet skid on the ground knocking down two more Ape soldiers. Three more charge at him with axes aiming. Cragen pounds the ground with his front feet and knocking the soldiers off balance. Cragen turns into a ball again to run them over.

Groverge and Boltor are fighting back to back. Three Apes come at Groverge. The Forest Dragon shoots fire out of his mouth into their faces. While they cover their injured faces, two more advance on him. Groverge places his claw feet on the ground to summon plant root tentacles from the ground to wrap them both up. Roaring in anger, he controls the root tentacles with his mind to smash them into the ground multiple times and use them to hit some other Apes. Boltor fires Electricity from his mouth and electrocutes two Ape soldiers. One comes in behind Boltor. Boltor spins around to hit him with his wing. Two more come in and Boltor shoots an electrical beam at them. Both of them fall to the floor dead. Another Ape comes in front of him with a bow and fires an arrow at him. Boltor fires Electricity which hits the arrow and bounces off hitting the Ape archer.

I face the Ape general. The Ape general advances on me while aiming his big broad sword. I give him a headbutt. The Ape general then swings his sword to slice my head off but I duck down just in time to dodge it. I whip my head to hit him hard and sent him flying into two Apes. I crouched down on the ground to inhale more air. The Ape general gets to his feet and gives his soldiers orders in an Ape language. He flicks his broad sword at me and he and his soldiers advance. I whip my head up, knocking the Ape general over, and unleash big clouds of fire from my mouth. All the Ape soldiers around me turned to ash. The remaining Ape soldiers are shaking with fright.

"Retreat, retreat!" the general orders them getting to his feet and dusting the ash off him. "Retreat to Cynder's fortress! The Temple is lost!"

The Ape general and his soldiers run through the halls towards the exit. The Dragon masters and apprentices cry out with victory. I plop down on the floor panting hard. Spyro and Sparx come to me.

"Are you okay, Ignitus?" Spyro asks in concern.

I struggle to stand up and clear my throat. "Yes," I say. "As I get older, it takes longer to recover."

The Dragon masters and apprentices come and join us.

"You guys were incredible!" Spyro tells the older Dragons. To me, he adds. "Can you show me how to do that?"

"Patients, young Dragon," I breath softly. "Soon enough, you will learn all I have to teach. But for now, you must wait."

When we walked through the door, everything is empty. All of the Apes are truly gone. The Dragon Temple has been retaken. In this huge circular room, there is a big stone structure filled with glistening water. Curved structures with emerald-green ovals on the bottom support the ceiling. Spyro goes in the room first and circles around the pool. He looks at the shining water in awe wondering what this could be. Sparx flies by his side to look at the pool as well. I walk to one side of the room and approach another door with the Dragon apprentices and masters behind me. The door opens as I get closer.

I inhale though my nose in satisfaction, "Ahhh, home sweet home."

Spyro and Sparx rejoin us and we all go in the next room. Inside the next room lies a statue of a Dragon with big horns in the center of his head. There are flower beds aligned on the walls, all have been decayed. Feeling sad for them, Groverge goes to each one and digs his claws in the soil. Within a few seconds, flowers begin to grow from the soil and blossom. The ferns rise up. Now that the flower beds are fixed, I led Spyro to another door on the left side of the room that lead to where I wanted him to see. The door takes us outside to a bridge connected to a platform where Dragons can oversee the landscape.

"Spyro, we're not in Kansas anymore." Sparx says as we walk across the bridge.

"Kansas?" Aquadus glances at Sparx, cocking an eyebrow. "What's a Kansas? Where'd you get that quote from?"

"Some lady Glowing Dragonfly named Dorofy."

Spyro stares in disbelief at what is in front of his eyes as he moves closer to the edge of the platform. Everything in the landscape has been destroyed. The soil is covered in dark and gray ash. The burnt trees still stand but with not enough branches to hold.

"What happened here?" Spyro stammers in terror.

"Cynder did all this, Spyro," Zephyrav says coming to his side, a tragic-look on her face, "before putting all the islands under an iron rule."

"I wanted to see where I came from…but I didn't know it was going to happen like this." Spyro tells her looking back at the landscape.

"Yeah, no offense, but this place is a bit of a dump." Sparx crosses his arms.

Groverge faces Sparx with his eyes glaring. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No." Sparx flinches from the rage of the Forest Dragon.

Groverge sighs and steps away from the yellow Glowing Dragonfly.

"This was once our home, Spyro." I say to the Purple Dragon. "Together, we can make it our home once again. Reclaim what is rightfully ours."

"What do you mean?" Spyro asks turning to me.

"I mean that my time for heroics is past. I will not be able to help these young Dragons. But with your help, we might be able to beat Cynder and bring peace to Dragon Realm again."

The Purple Dragon feels like he has something stuck in his throat. He knows he was supposed to save everyone from this evil. But how can he? This war is much worse than he imagined.

"I-I can't, Ignitus," he says. "I just learned what I am."

"You can, Spyro." I assure him moving my head closer to him. "You can. You are a Purple Dragon, a very special creature. My apprentice, Emberor, was right, after all. You have given us hope again. Now it is time to give hope to all the different races of creatures of the world."

"I believe you can too," Boltor smiles encouragingly.

The other older Dragons look at him wanting him to accept.

"I'm not sure what help I can be, guys," Spyro shrugs still uncertain of his duty. "But I'll try." More confident, he repeats, "I'll try."

The young Dragons yell out their glee.

"All right," Cragen says.

"That's what I like to hear." Aquadus says.

I nod for approval. "Good. That is all I can ask. Come with me, young Dragon. I have something for you."

I walk back inside with the young Dragons, and Sparx, following.

When we are back in the room with the Dragon statue, I look at Spyro.

"Tell me, Spyro." I say to him. "Have you experienced any power from inside you before?"

"Umm," Spyro says thinking back. "Well, I breathed fire back at where I used to live. It was wild."

"Really," I raise my eyebrows.

Spyro nods and tells us he used his fire breath to save his foster brother from a band of Apes, ignoring Sparx as he says he almost burned him alive.

"Okay, then." I nod. "I can see that ability you used was crude, archaic, and obvious. But you got the job done. Not bad, considering you have not been taught anything about what it means to be a Dragon."

"Uh, thanks." Spyro says awkwardly. "I guess."

"But, if you are going to have a chance against Cynder and the Dark Armies, you are going to need to learn a lot more."

"Oh, good, school." Sparx sarcastically speaks out loud crossing his arms.

My head moves close to Sparx. "Unlike any school you have ever known, young friend." I glance back at the Purple Dragon. "Now, Spyro, it is time to unleash the true Dragon within you. Let's begin."

I beckon Emberor to come stand with me with a gesture of my front foot. When I face Spyro again, his training begins.

"Each Dragon is born with one of the elemental powers; Fire, Earth, Wind, Ice, Electricity, Water, and Forest." I say. "Emberor and I, as you may surmise, are born to wield the power of Fire." I gesture my front foot to the other older Dragons. "Aquadus is a master of Water, Cragen is a master of Earth, Zephyrav is a master of Wind, Groverge is a master of Forest, and Boltor has the power of Electricity. Understand so far?"

"Yes, Ignitus," Spyro nods.

"Good. For a Purple Dragon, he or she can master more than one element. But deep inside them is a unique element more powerful than any other. It comes when they unlock it from within. As you continue to use Fire, you will learn about other elements and later, you will have the Purple Dragon's power."

"Wow." Spyro breathes.

"Shall we?" I ask.

"Yes."

I go to a lever on a wall above the flowerbeds and pull it down. The statue begins to lower down into the floor revealing a hole. Four triangular pieces slid out of the edges closing it up. All the flowerbeds sink into the ground as well and two rectangle pieces above them close. My apprentice and I walk on the center of the room with Spyro following.

I turn to Spyro again. "This room of the Dragon Ancestor statue is also called the Training Room. Dragons come here to practice or train their apprentices. This is where you will be trained. Let us work on your fire breath."

Spyro stands in the center of the circle. My apprentice and I sit at the edge of it. The other young Dragons lie behind the door to the platform.

"As you know, Spyro, Fire is dangerous. But for a Dragon, it takes technique, practice, and breathing to control it. The way to breathe Fire is to inhale the air through the mouth and then exhale. Your lungs are the source of the power and the air is what makes it strong. Why don't we give it a try? Tell me if you're ready."

"I'm ready." Spyro tells me standing straight facing the other way so he will not hurt us.

"Okay," I nod. "Breathe in through the mouth…"

Spyro inhales the air slowly.

"…and out."

Spyro exhales and fire comes out of his mouth slowly. It spreads out taking the shape of a tree and dies away. Spyro's eyes are wide open.

"Good, Spyro. Good." I acknowledge. "That was from a small amount of air you took in. Try taking in a little bit more. Breathe in…"

This time Spyro inhales a little bit more air.

"…and out."

Spyro exhales and fire shoots out even farther from the center before dies away.

"Wow!" Spyro exclaims. "That was powerful."

"As you breathe in more air," I clarify. "The fire becomes much stronger. That's the good part. The bad part is if you inhale too much air in your lungs, the fire inside you will be beyond your control and unless you guide it, it will burn everything it touches in front of you."

"Not only can you blast a hole in this room," Emberor puts in. "But you can also burn us alive."

Spyro feels his heart turns cold and his spine shivers of the thought of death.

"Right, got it," he stutters.

"Would you like to continue?" I ask noticing his shiver of fear.

"Yeah," Spyro straightens himself up again. "I need to get the hang of this."

Spyro keeps on practicing his fire breathing until he has got it. We moved on to how to unleash fireballs. Spyro opens his mouth wide enough to blow out a single fireball and it hit the wall. After a few more tries, he glances at me.

"Ignitus, how come Groverge can breathe fire since he's a Forest Dragon?"

"There is a plant in Dragon Realm that can spawn fire when its stem is broken," I answer. "The juice inside will ignite. Every Forest Dragon is part of all the forest energy sources."

The Purple Dragon, now understanding, continues his Fire training. The older Dragons, sitting beyond the door, watch Spyro with admiration as he makes progress.

"This is so cool." Sparx comments to Boltor. "Wait 'till I tell this to Mom and Dad."

"Yeah, they'll be astonished." Boltor nods in agreement. To Groverge, he says. "Right, Groverge?"

Groverge did not reply to the Electric Dragon. He has his eyes focus on nothing. Boltor was about to see if he had heard him but changes his mind and turns his attention back to Spyro.

Sparx leans close to Boltor. "What's eatin' him?"

"Don't worry about it, Sparx," says Boltor.

After Spyro learns how to use Fire wisely, we move on to fighting. Emberor and the rest of the young Dragons move to the circle to face Spyro. They will take over the fighting sessions but Groverge told me he wants to stay out of this. I accept his choice with no issue. First, Zephyrav, Cragen, Aquadus, Emberor, and Boltor train Spyro how to block, dodge, and how to roll to avoid enemy attacks.

Cragen stands a few feet away from Spyro. He kicks the dust behind him before aiming his three horns at him. "You ready, pal?" he asks.

Spyro nods prepared for anything his friends will throw at him. Cragen charges at him keeping his horns from shaking. Just when he was going to crash into him, Spyro rolls out of the way and Cragen charged past him. Aquadus appears and sweeps his tale at Spyro's feet and Spyro jumps up before it hit him. Boltor is next to attack inhaling the air and holds it. Spyro reacts suddenly remembering Boltor releases Electricity every time he holds his breath. He falls on the floor and the thunder bolt went past him. Emberor comes in front of the Purple Dragon throwing blows with his claws. Spyro uses his claws and wings to block them as best he could. Emberor gets out of the way and Zephyrav comes at the Purple Dragon whipping her tail at him. Spyro blocks the attack with his wings.

"That was good," Aquadus says. "Let's try it again."

After repeating the avoidance steps, in separate order, they now work on fighting techniques. Emberor strikes Spyro with his claws and Spyro blocks it before it impacts on his face. He shoves it away and kicks him in the shoulder with his front foot. Boltor runs at Spyro and Spyro leaps on top of him to knock him off balance. Cragen swings his spiked-ball tail around and whips it across to hit Spyro. Spyro ducks his head letting the tail go over him and back kicks Cragen in the chest sending him to the ground. Spyro turns to his left just in time to see an incoming attack from Aquadus, while Zephyrav flies through the air to make a sneak attack behind Spyro. The Water Dragon rushes to the Purple Dragon and Spyro jumps up and Aquadus goes past him. Zephyrav gasps seeing Aquadus coming towards her. The two of them crash into each other and fall to the ground. They chuckle and grunt from the impact.

"Good job, Spyro," Emberor congratulates him while massaging his shoulder. "You did it again."

"Thanks," the Purple Dragon pants. "I try."

They keep on training until I raise my foot to get the Dragons' attention. "That's enough training for now, Spyro. Well done." To the other young Dragons he says. "And you, young Dragons, have also done well. You are good teachers."

The Dragons dip their heads in gratitude. Then, they all turn to Groverge who is still not paying attention.

"Poor Groverge," Cragen murmurs to Boltor, the young Electric Dragon nods in agreement.

"I don't understand," Spyro says quietly. "Why is Groverge sitting there acting that way?"

"A story he'll tell later, young Dragon. Give him time." I reply. "All of you come with me. It's time we make plans."

Spyro follows me with the Dragon masters and apprentices back to the room with the pool, excited and ready to do anything to save his home. Groverge walks ahead of Spyro, eyes glaring. The Purple Dragon keeps his distance from him. What can it be that is troubling the Forest Dragon?

I walk to the pool filled with shimmering water. Gently, I place my chin in the water, eyes closed. Sparx goes in front of me to see what I am doing. I open my eyes to look at Sparx and lift my chin out of the water.

"So what's with the pool, big guy?" the yellow Glowing Dragonfly asks.

"If you must know," I say, rolling my eyes, "certain Dragons have the ability to see visions; the thoughts, memories, and dreams of others, and to see what is happening in places far, far away."

"Really?" Spyro says.

"It's true," says Cragen, nodding. "Ignitus is one of them and they use the Pool of Visions to show others what they see."

"Oh really, is that so?" Sparx says fascinated. He hovers in front of my face. "Okay, what am I thinking now?"

I just look at him not replying.

"What am I thinking now?" Sparx repeats.

I roll my eyes in frustration and sigh.

"Okay, now?" Sparx keeps repeating. "Now? Now, now, now, now, now?"

"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Sparx." I impatiently tell him. "It takes time, reflection, patience. What I did see in the Pool of Visions is that Volteer, Dragon Guardian of Electricity, is being held at Dante's Freezer." To Spyro, I add. "Spyro, while I look for details on the others, I want you to venture there and find out what you can."

"Okay," Spyro curt nods. "Wait. Am I going alone?"

"No." I chuckle. "Three of these young Dragons will go with you to Dante's Freezer. Emberor and Aquadus will go with you, Boltor, as well. He of course is Volteer's apprentice."

"Ready to have your first fight, bud," Emberor asks, walking to the Purple Dragon's side.

Spyro nods. "I believe I am."

"That's good because I'm ready for anything." Aquadus speaks on Spyro's other side.

"Ignitus, why can't all of us go?" Boltor asks.

"Because I wouldn't trust that those Apes will not return here. I need some of you here." I state. "Each will have a turn to go with Sparx and Spyro to find the other Guardians."

"Groverge, where are you going?" Emberor calls behind him.

We all turn our attention to Groverge who is heading to the hall of the Dragon Ancestor statue. He stops and turns to us.

"I was going to bring back the trees and grass of our land while you guys find Volteer." Groverge answers. "I can't stand the state it's in."

"That's a good idea," Boltor smiles.

"Okay." I say to the Forest Dragon. "You can do that. We will need to have the plant life back on our land. Start rebuilding it."

"I can come if you like." Zephyrav offers hopefully.

For the first time, Spyro sees a hint of a smile of appreciation from Groverge while looking at the Wind Dragoness.

"Thanks," he says.

Spyro watched the two Dragons leave the room. He was hoping something would cheer Groverge up from whatever it is he is dealing with.

"So, Ignitus," the Purple Dragon says, getting back on the subject. "What is this Dante's Freezer we're going to?"

"Dante's Freezer is a desolated arctic expanse that's littered with the machinery of war, soldiers and weapons frozen forever in the posture of destruction. You must find Volteer before he is lost forever. Remember, just look around. If you encounter Cynder, run. You are not ready to fight that loyal servant, yet."

"Okay, so when things are trying to kill me, I run," says Sparx, nodding with a hand under his chin. "Got it."

"Ignitus, I have another question." Spyro says with a cocked eyebrow. "How do we get there?"

A smile appears on my face. "I am glad you asked."

"Why are you smiling?" Sparx demands. "I don't like it."

Groverge and Zephyrav go to the platform overlooking the destroyed forestland. They unfold their wings preparing to take flight. Zephyrav accidentally brushes the feathers on her tail on Groverge's back foot as she bends her hind legs and Groverge chuckles.

"What?" she says, glancing at the Forest Dragon.

"Sorry," Groverge sighs his happy face fading. "You're tail tickled my foot."

Zephyrav is silent until she started laughing, "You're ticklish? Oh my goodness! Why do you have to be ticklish?"

"How should I know?" Groverge shrugs.

Zephyrav flies to the forestland laughing and Groverge takes off after her. Spyro, Sparx, Boltor, Aquadus, Emberor, and I walk to the platform outside.

"Let me get this straight," says Spyro, glancing at me, "you're saying that I can fly?"

I give him a wink in reply.

"Maybe you've been hanging out in those caves a little too long, old man." Sparx says. "Spyro can't fly. We all know that."

"Yeah," Spyro chuckles, "a bit of fresh air out here might do you good. I haven't been able to fly my whole life."

"No, Spyro," I shake my head. "It is you that will be getting some fresh air."

The Purple Dragon looks at me with uncertainty.

I turn to the young Dragons and Sparx. "The four of you can go. Spyro will be right behind you."

Boltor flaps his wings and takes off in the air. Sparx looks back at Spyro with a questioning look then finally follows Boltor. Emberor and Aquadus fly after them.

I face Spyro again and whisper to him, "Now, Spyro, close your eyes…"

Spyro closes his eyes.

"…take a deep breath,"

The Purple Dragon inhales air through his nose and out his mouth.

"…and empty your mind."

Spyro is quiet, clearing his mind. The sound of the wind breathes in his ears. He feels like he is already in the sky.

"Yes, yes, that's it." I rasp. "Now feel the power of your Ancestors coursing through your body. In time of crises, they will come to you and teach you…unlocking the powers you never knew you had. Just forget everything you thought you knew. Forget yourself. Only through forgetting will you remember what your ancient blood already knows…you can fly."

Spyro spreads out his yellow wings and slowly flaps them. For a minute or two, they flap faster. Spyro's feet are at this moment no longer touching the platform. He opens his eyes and sees he is hovering. He let out a gasp.

"Don't stop." I tell him. "Keep going."

Spyro flaps his wings harder. It makes him go even higher. Finally, he stops and he glides through the air.

"WHOA!" Spyro exclaims.

The Purple Dragon keeps his flight under control not wanting to fall. As he descends, he flaps his wings to gain more altitude.

"I…I can't believe it!" Spyro stammers "I'm flying!"

He spots Sparx, Boltor, Emberor, and Aquadus ahead of him. He flaps his wings faster to get beside to them.

Boltor laughs happily, "Good work, Spyro!"

"Dante's Freezer, here we come!" Aquadus calls ahead of him.

"Yeah," Spyro shouts. "I can get use to this!"

"Are you kidding me?" Sparx says, coming at Spyro's side. "He's really flying! Welcome to the club, big guy."

"Would that be the annoying pest club?" Spyro teases.

"No, smart aleck," Sparx says, frowning at his brother, "the flying club."


	6. Chapter 5 - The Search for Volteer

Chapter 5

The Search for Volteer

Lightning strikes flash in a land with blue glowing crystals and dark clouds. Two tight groups of Ape soldiers in black-colored armor, parallel to each other, are standing tall on a platform of one of the towers of a dark and terrifying fortress. Ape captains are lined up on the left side of the platform in front of the soldiers some wearing thick armor and helmets of different shapes. The Ape general from the Dragon Temple stands between the soldier lines feeling very shaky. He had failed to guard the Temple and now he has to deal with his superior. With another strike of lightning, a black adult Dragoness with a red underbelly, an iron blade on the tip of her tale, metal blade claws, iron shackles on her neck, front ankles, and tale, six long white sharp horns on her head, and white flashing eyes appears in the sky. She comes in and lands softly on the platform. She rests her red wings on her back. The Ape captains move to stand behind the general and they all bow in respect to the black Dragoness. The black Dragoness turns her gaze at the Ape general. The general and the captains stand up.

"General Hurde," says the black Dragoness. "I have received your message. The Dragon Temple has been taken, by whom?"

"Well, Cynder, milady," General Hurde begins legs shaking. "My Apes and I were having a good time until six young Dragons came in and attacked us. Ignitus was with them."

"What?" Cynder shouts, her glowing eyes flash. "Those cowards came out of hiding and attacked you? You should've stayed and killed them all!"

She raises her sharp pointed blade attached to her tail and points it at the Ape general.

"Wait! Wait a second!" Hurde cries hands out. "My number of soldiers was decreasing. We had to fall back."

"You're Malefor's soldiers!" Cynder snaps. "Not cowardly monkeys!"

"Madam, wait! There's more to it than that! When my soldiers and I were fighting them, another Dragon was with them. This might come as a big shock. It was a Purple Dragon."

Cynder takes a step back at what the general said.

"A Purple Dragon, did you say?" she demands.

"Yes." General Hurde nods, speaking weakly.

"It can't be!" Cynder gasps. "You didn't kill him, did you?

"Well, no but…" the general begins.

"You're a fool!" the black Dragoness snaps. She moves closer to him and the general moves backwards away from her. The Ape captains stay where they are keeping their mouths shut. They're as scared as Hurde is.

"General," Cynder says, as Hurde keeps backing away from her, "you have sworn to serve Malefor, your master, and this is how you give him results?"

The general glances back seeing he is getting close to the edge of the tower.

"Please, madam!" Hurde whimpers. "I can do better next time."

Cynder scoffs, "Next time? There won't be a next time. I have no need for you anymore." She brings her tale blade up and aims right at the general's heart.

"NO! NO! NO! DON'T!" the general screeches. "I'M SORRY!"

"I'm not." Cynder whispers.

She stabs Hurde with her tale blade straight through. Hurde's eyes grew wide and his head and arms dangle from his lifeless body. Cynder whips her tale in the air and the dead general is thrown off the tower falling to the ground. Cynder turns to the Ape captains while scraping the blood on her tale blade off on the edge of the tower.

"Which of you is the second-in-command?" she asks.

One Ape captain raises his shaking hand. "I am, Cynder."

"Come here." Cynder jerks her head.

The captain walks to Cynder slowly. Impatiently, Cynder moves her head close to his, her eyes glaring.

"Double the guard on every island," she growls, giving orders. "Send out Dreadwings to look out for Dragons. If that Purple Dragon is found on any of those islands, I want to know about it. You are in charge of the Dark Armies as of now…General."

"Th-Th-Thank you, milady," stammers the new Ape general.

"Don't thank me yet!" Cynder snaps, making the Ape flinch. "Now go!" To all the Apes, she hollers, "all of you go!"

The new Ape general, captains, and soldiers run out of sight. Cynder walks to the side of the tower and gazes at the horizon.

"So, the Purple Dragon still lives." The black Dragoness murmurs to herself. She brings up her right front foot and extends her sharp metal claws in shapes of sword blades. "When I find him, I'll make him wish he was never born."

Meanwhile, in the cloudy sky, Emberor, Aquadus, and Boltor land on a hill covered in thick snow, gazing at a fortress embraced in cold ice. The ground below them is a scene of a massacre, catapults are buried in the amount of snow and spears poke out.

"Dante's Freezer," says Emberor.

"My master, Volteer, is in there somewhere." Boltor says feeling worried.

Emberor places his front foot on Boltor's shoulder. "We're gonna find him."

"Wait." Aquadus glances around. "Where are Spyro and Sparx?"

Emberor and Boltor glance around in the sky to find Spyro and Sparx but they were nowhere to be seen.

Spyro is way behind them. He was having fun flying until Sparx reminded him to catch up with the others. Spyro found them at last. He flies to them and then realizes he has a problem.

"How the heck do I land?" Spyro wonders in panic, while kicking his feet. "I'm coming in too fast!"

"This…doesn't look good." Sparx says to himself.

"GUYS," shouts Spyro. "INCOMING!"

Emberor, Aquadus, and Boltor turn around to see Spyro coming right at them.

"Uh-oh," utters Aquadus.

"Oh, sh…!" Boltor begins to exclaim.

Spyro crashes into the Dragons and they all fall down the snow slope. Snow on the slope crumbles. They roll and roll down until they hit the bottom landing on top of each other. Boltor lands first, then Emberor, then, Spyro, and finally, Aquadus. The crumbling snow pours down on them.

"That's gotta hurt." Sparx says, gazing at the snow mound.

Aquadus, on top of the others, shakes the snow off him and shivers. When he gets off of Spyro, Spyro lifts his head and shakes his head. He gets off Emberor who is trying to get off of Boltor. Emberor sprouts his wings and they grow hot. Boltor cocks his head to the right to crack his neck.

"You alright, guys?" Spyro says checking on his friends. "Sorry I bumped into you. I didn't know how to land."

"This is your first time of flying, bud," says the red Dragon. "Are you feeling cold?"

A chill runs from Spyro's feet up his back. "Yeah, a little," he nods.

Emberor moves his blazing wings close to Spyro and warmth spreads around him.

Sparx joins the Dragons, laughing at Spyro. "Nice flying, ace."

"You know, maybe this flying thing isn't for me." Spyro tells them.

"Well, it sure doesn't help that you're carrying all that weight." Sparx shrugs. "You know, throw a salad in every once in a while. You might be okay."

"Come on," Aquadus nudges Spyro with his front foot, "you'll be fine. I had a hard time once with my first time."

Spyro thinks about his flying a little more and decides, "I'll stick to the ground for a while."

"Good idea," says Sparx while Aquadus makes a curt nod in agreement.

Spyro turns his attention to the fortress covered in snow and ice. "Not exactly a friendly place, huh?" he states. "Wonder where we should start?"

"We'll start by going inside." Emberor says. "Volteer's bound to be in there somewhere."

Emberor leads the way inside the fortress with Aquadus, Boltor, Spyro, and Sparx following.

Somewhere in the fortress, the five he-Well, four heroes, keep a sharp eye out for enemies. Emberor's radiant heat keeps all of them from freezing to death. When they approach a gateway to another opening, Spyro goes up ahead to check if there are Apes patrolling out there. Sparx hovers beside him looking in the opposite direction. Then, they heard a monstrous roar.

"Whoa!" Sparx jumps. He glances to Spyro. "You think that was Cynder?"

"I sure hope so." Spyro responds, looking at the sky.

"What?" Sparx asks in disbelief.

"Well, if it wasn't, it means there's more than one giant evil Dragon around here." Spyro explains.

"Oh yeah, I hope that was Cynder too."

Spyro and Sparx go back to Emberor, Aquadus, and Boltor to tell them the coast is clear. Emberor acknowledges with a nod and leads the way to the opening with Spyro at his side. Ape soldiers are in sight when they crossed the gateway. But as the Dragons and Sparx get closer to them, they seem to be frozen stiff. Either they are frozen, or this could be a trick. On high alert, they walk past the Apes. Sparx looks at one of them with a crooked sword. The Ape's frozen eye turns to him quickly and blinks. Sparx backs away from him.

"Is it weird that this one blinked at me?" Sparx asks Spyro, pointing at the Ape.

Before Spyro can answer, the Ape's frozen arm breaks the ice covering it and grabs Sparx.

Sparx screams in surprise, "The ice cube's alive!"

Emberor, Boltor, Spyro, and Aquadus turn around to see Sparx trapped. The frozen Ape breaks the ice off him and turns to Spyro and his friends. All of the Apes break the ice off them and aim their weapons at them. They're all screeching menacingly.

"Ambush," Boltor cries.

Emberor dashes forward and knocks an Ape down. Another Ape comes in with a sharp sword and Emberor whips him with his tail on fire.

Spyro makes a powerful back kick on one Ape soldier with a battle ax. He charges at the Ape that has Sparx.

"Go, Spyro! Go!" shouts Sparx, whooping.

Spyro bites the Ape's wrist making the Ape let go of Sparx. Sparx flies away from the battle. Spyro then throws the Ape to a wall. He notices three Apes are behind him. He spins around and shoots a fire ball from his mouth to hit them. An Ape with a flail runs at him while swinging it around and hooting. Spyro dodges it and jumps on his face bringing him to the ground. While standing on him, he glances at two Ape soldiers one holding an ax and the other holding a sword. The Ape soldier with a sword lunges at Spyro and Spyro grabs the sword with his teeth. He takes it away from him and uses the handle to hit him on the head. The Ape soldier with an ax brings his ax down on Spyro. Spyro dodges it and the Ape soldier hits the Ape on the ground.

Boltor headbutts an Ape armed with a spear. As another Ape runs to him, Boltor spins around fast to clobber him with his wings. Four more come in front of him and he holds his breath and fires Electricity at them. Boltor fires a lightning bolt at two Apes to his right.

Aquadus spins around spraying water out to make a water tornado while he hovers above it. He moves the water tornado toward some Apes and the Apes are sucked into the water. They go flying around in it. When a cool breeze comes in out of nowhere, the water tornado turns into a big block of ice. Aquadus stops spraying before the ice gets in his mouth but finds out that his feet are stuck in it.

"Oh, this is terrific!" Aquadus groans in frustration. "Some help here, Emberor?"

"Sorry! Little busy, Aquadus!" Emberor shouts, kicking an Ape with a battle ax aside.

"Great!" the Water Dragon groans.

As the fight continues, an Ape comes out of the snow with a strange yellow crystal. He aims it right at the Purple Dragon and the crystal fires an electrical beam at him.

"Look out!" Sparx shouts at Spyro.

Spyro turns around and the electrical beam hits him. He falls to the ground with his legs spasm madly.

"SPYRO!" Boltor shouts in panic.

Spyro gets up still shaking rapidly.

"You okay, buddy?" Sparx asks.

Suddenly, Spyro opens his mouth and shoots Electricity out of his mouth blindly at the yellow crystal. It shatters into pieces. The Ape carrying it begins to run.

"Whoo," Sparx exclaims. "I guess so!"

After the Dragons eliminated the rest of the Apes, Boltor goes to Spyro with awe in his eyes.

"How the heck did you redirect that Electricity beam?"

"I really don't know." Spyro bewilderingly replies. "It was a little painful at first and I felt like I had to spit it out."

"Well, that's one of the lessons of Electricity I learned." says Boltor.

Spyro stares at Boltor in astonishment, one of the lessons of Electricity? Spyro was going to say something but the Electric Dragon moved to the shattered pieces of the yellow crystal, staring at them.

"How can this be?" Boltor stutters.

Spyro moves to his side. "You okay?"

"I have seen this power before. It belongs to an Electric Dragon!"

"Hold up!" Sparx says "You're saying this belongs to an Electric Dragon?"

"Yes!" Boltor nods breathing heavily. "It's unbelievable! It must be from Volteer! What if they killed him?"

"Boltor, we don't know if he's dead." Spyro soothes his anxiety. "We'll find him. Let's move on before more Apes show up."

The Electricity Dragon takes deep breathes and then he gazes at his friend. "Okay. You're right.

"We should take that tunnel." Emberor says, gazing at an ice tunnel. "It must lead us to where we might find him."

"Oi!" a voice shouts at Sparx and the Dragons from behind.

They turn around to see Aquadus still stuck on the frozen water tornado.

"You're gonna leave me here?" he irritably shouts.

"Oh! Sorry!" Emberor says.

Emberor flies to Aquadus and use his fire breath to free Aquadus's feet from the ice with Spyro's help.

The four Dragons and Sparx walk to the tunnel to see if they could find Volteer who was being held captive by the Apes. Spyro was still amazed with the fact he redirect electricity from a crystal the Ape used to try and kill him and he cannot wait until he learns more. Sparx flies in front of the group towards the tunnel.

"Careful, Sparx," Aquadus calls. "There might be Apes in there."

"Pffft, I know that, genius." Sparx replies with a dismissal gesture. "Hey, check this out. Echo!"

His voice echoes down the tunnel. He keeps doing it as they walk the length of the tunnel to the end.

"Hello!" Sparx's voice echoes.

When they have reached the end, Apes are right in front of them.

"Hello," one of the Ape soldiers laughs evilly.

Emberor growls in frustration. "They heard us and were expecting us to come in!"

"Who's the genius now, echo man?" Spyro frowns at Sparx.

An Ape soldier charges with his sword. Emberor flies to him to bat him in the face with his claws. He flies up very high above the group of Apes to spin around making a ring of fire. Then, he comes down really hard to hit the ground and the ring of fire turns some of the Ape soldiers to ashes. Boltor flies up and comes down really hard on two Ape soldiers with his body. Aquadus bites down on an Ape's leg and throws him to a wall. Spyro soars to kick the last Ape on the chest.

"This way!" Boltor shouts, seeing a pathway.

Spyro and his companions take the path hoping it will lead them to where they can find the Guardian of Electricity. The tunnel leads them to a ledge overlooking a clearing with platforms below them. They glide down to land on the biggest one. They look around to see which way to go next. Then, Sparx sees in the distance an adult Dragon with yellow scales, gray fins, and a blade tale lying on a platform higher than the one they're standing on.

"Hey, that's him. We did it." Sparx says pointing at the Dragon.

Boltor gasps in surprise, "Master!"

Spyro steps in front of Boltor preventing him from going to Volteer.

"What is it?" the young Electric Dragon asks. "We found Volteer!"

Spyro narrows his eyes around. "I don't like this. It's too quiet…too easy."

Hearing screeches and hoots, the Dragons look up and a huge number of Apes come down from the ceiling. An Ape captain comes down last.

"Whoa!" Aquadus exclaims. "That's a lot of Apes."

The Ape captain takes from his back an iron mace with spikes glaring at the Dragons. "This is where your journey ends! Get them!"

A few Apes in front of him charge at them. The Dragons prepare themselves, except Spyro. When he looks at the ice he and his friends are standing on, he comes up with an idea.

"Aquadus, have some water," he says.

"What?" Aquadus glances at Spyro.

"Water!" Spyro shouts and then breathes fire on the ice below. The ice melts into water.

Now understanding, Aquadus drinks up all of the water rapidly. He faces the Ape soldiers and sprays a huge amount of water washing them away.

Emberor is amazed how fast the Purple Dragon thought of something under pressure. He flies up in the air to get above the remaining soldiers and the Ape captain, and shoots a stream of flame. The spot on the platform melts into more water. The fire makes a huge water puddle under the soldiers. Boltor fires Electricity into the water and the Apes all scream and spasm madly. They fall into the water with the smoke rising from their burnt bodies.

"Spyro, that was so clever," Boltor says with a smiling.

"Yeah, how'd you know I could make a huge water spray if I drink lots of water?" Aquadus asks. "After all, that's the way I use it."

"Well, it was a crazy idea," Spyro shrugs. "I thought the water would help you, lucky me." He smiled when Aquadus nudged him in affection.

They go to Volteer who had been watching them fight. The older Dragons are relieved to see him again. Volteer's mouth is shut with a strap around his snout. He is pleased to see the Dragon master and apprentices, especially the Purple Dragon. Emberor breaks the strap on his snout with his claws. Boltor dips his head in front of his master, glad that he is alive.

"Hello, Boltor. So nic-c-c-ce to see you," Volteer speaks rapidly his voice shaking. To Spyro, he says. "It borders on the miraculous, incredible, stupendous, a Dragon your size helping Boltor, Emberor, and Aquadus to defeat those…those…Apes. Thank you…ah…ah…ah…?"

"Spyro," Spyro introduces himself.

"A Purple Dragon named Spyro," Volteer says rapidly, "amazing. Of course, there were unsubstantiated rumors of a Purple Dragon countless generations ago but most considered it hearsay, gossip, legend." Spyro and Sparx look at each other as the Dragon Guardian continues. "It's hard to believe, difficult to fathom, amazing to comprehend…er…um…"

"No wonder they gagged this guy." Sparx tells Spyro hiding his mouth with his hand.

Volteer keeps talking. "…so much time has passed, so many things have been learned, and now here he is, Spyro, the Purple Dragon, standing right before me-"

"Volteer," Emberor interrupts.

"Wha…wha…what is it?" Volteer asks.

"Calm down, Volteer. You're hurt."

"Excuse me, Mr. Volt?" says Sparx, cutting in. "Sir, shouldn't…shouldn't we get going?"

"Oh, of course, yes," Volteer nods, "but where to?"

"Back to the Dragon Temple, master," Boltor tells him.

"Ignitus is waiting for us." Spyro puts in.

Volteer's eyes begin to brighten, **"** Ignitus?"

"Yes, Ignitus," Sparx says impatiently.

"Of course, much to tell him, many hypotheses to pose, I believe…"

 _"Yes, yes! Moving on!" The next three chapters are on their way! Have a nice day!_


	7. Chapter 6 - Electricity Training

**Hello! Thank you for your patience! Here are the next chapters.**

 **P.S. I found the horizontal lines for the breaking of scenes and the naming of the chapters!**

* * *

Chapter 6

Electricity Training

The young Dragons, Volteer, and Sparx flew back home to the Dragon Temple. The forestland next to the Temple are back. The trees and the giant mushrooms stand tall and flowers blossom on the grass thanks to Groverge.

In the Temple, Spyro walks through the halls to a room where the older Dragons are resting. As he enters the room, he sees carvings of Dragons on the stone walls. All of them look magnificent. Some are flying, some are performing their powers, and some just stand tall and proud. Spyro sees me standing with Volteer and three other Dragons. The one next to Volteer has horns that look like icicles. Next to me is a very strong-looking Dragon with big ram-like horns on his head, a beard, and a spiked ball tale like Cragen's. The third next to him is a Dragoness that looks exactly like Zephyrav but bigger.

" _Who can she be?_ " Spyro thinks.

Laughter occurs behind Spyro and he turns around to see the older Dragons, Emberor, Zephyrav, Boltor, and Aquadus lying on the floor with small wooden bowls next to them. Some have green leaves and some have water. Sparx is hovering in front of them chatting with them. He must have told them a joke that caused the laughter.

"Hey, Spyro," Aquadus calls, "come and join us."

Spyro looks back at the carvings again before approaching his friends and sits down with them. Boltor pushes a wooden bowl filled with leaves to him.

"We saved some food for you. Groverge brought these back from the newly grown forest," the Electric Dragon says. "Sparx said you and he eat green leaves back at Dragonfly Swamp."

"We do," Spyro nods. "I haven't tried these though."

Spyro lowers his head down to his bowl and picks up a mouthful of leaves. He expected them to taste different but instead, they taste very similar to the leaves from his old home, fresh and crunchy.

"It's good," Spyro says after swallowing.

Spyro takes another mouthful and Boltor leans close to him.

"You like the Dragons on the wall, don't you?" he says jerking his head at the wall.

"Yeah," the Purple Dragon says. He gazes at the spot where Volteer and I are, "Are those three close to Ignitus and Volteer the other Guardians?"

"They are," Zephyrav nods, looking at the wall. She points her front foot at the one next to Volteer. "That one is Cyril, Dragon Guardian of Ice," she points at the one next to me, "That's Terrador, Dragon Guardian of Earth."

She stops talking when she gazes at the fifth member next to Terrador. Spyro sees a down-cast look on Zephyrav.

"And who is that?" Spyro asks. "She looks just like you."

"That's Whisperav, Dragon Guardian of Wind," Zephyrav says, "She's my mentor…my mother."

Spyro and Sparx gasps.

"She's your mother?" asks Spyro.

"Your mom's a Guardian?" Sparx says reacting in awe. "Cool."

"Yep," Zephyrav nods. "She was." Taking a deep breath, she says, "She was fighting in the war with Ignitus, the other Guardians, and our forces against the Dark Armies and Malefor. Wish you could meet her. She was remarkable."

"What do you mean?" Spyro asks.

The Wind Dragoness answers with her eyes lowered. "My mother was murdered by Cynder. After the black Dragon took Volteer, Terrador, and Cyril, my mother sacrificed herself to help the rest of us escape." A tear rolls out of her eye and she sighs heavily. She continues when Aquadus places his foot on her shoulder. "I was so sad and heartbroken. I wanted her to stay with me. She was always there for me."

"Her death was hard on all of us." Aquadus adds.

"Wow," Sparx speaks stunned. "That was rough."

"I'm very sorry, Zeph," Spyro says, cheering her up. "I'm sure she was a good mother and teacher, and that she was proud of you."

Zephyrav looks at him smiling big, "Thanks, Spyro. That means a lot."

She nuzzles the Purple Dragon on the shoulder and he feels the softness of her blue feathers. He nuzzles her back, happy he could help. Aquadus, Boltor, and Emberor agree with Zephyrav it was a good compliment. The Purple Dragon now sees Groverge sitting alone by himself like he has often seen him. One wooden bowl of leaves was placed in front of him while another bowl of a type of plant is next to it. Spyro has never seen those plants before. Their leaves are dark green and their stalks glow red. Groverge takes a mouthful of one and crunches down. Spyro wonders if he is in the mood to talk. He likes to get to know him more and later, hopefully, Groverge can tell him what is troubling him.

Spyro shifts himself to face the Forest Dragon. "You've done a good job rebuilding the forestland, Groverge," he says.

The young Forest Dragon did not look at him while he munches down on the plant. Spyro turns away from him thinking he still needs to be left alone.

Groverge swallows and replies softly, "Thanks."

Spyro glances back at Groverge now turning his attention to him.

"Thanks," he repeats.

Pleased to talk to him, Spyro turns to face him again. Groverge takes another mouthful of a red-stalk plant and chews.

"What are those you're eating?" Spyro asks.

Groverge swallows, licks his lips, and says, "Ember stalks. Ignitus told you about these, the ones that spawn fire when their stems break. We Forest Dragons need to eat these to keep our fire breath powered up."

"Uh," Sparx says in wonder, keeping his distance from Groverge remembering how touchy he is, "what does it feel like when you swallow the juice?"

"For Forest Dragons," Groverge explains, "very warm in the stomach and the throat. For someone like you, it burns."

"Good to know," Sparx grunts with thumbs up.

"After I brought back the forestland, these plants needed to be found so nothing else gets burned."

"You know, I found out Groverge is ticklish when I touched him with my tail." Zephyrav adds to everyone in the room giggling.

"Really?" chuckles Aquadus while Sparx and Spyro laugh.

"Oi," Groverge sternly tells Zephyrav. "I told you to keep it a secret."

"Why keep it a secret?" the Wind Dragoness sighs. "It's funny."

Groverge's annoyed-look vanished when he sees Zephyrav smiling at him, fluttering her dreamy eyes. He is fully silent and he starts to blush.

"Someone's in love." Sparx utters to Spyro.

Spyro nods in agreement while smiling. It seems Zephyrav has a strong relationship with the Forest Dragon. Maybe those two would end up being together someday. Instantly, Groverge shakes his head and looks away from the attractive Dragoness.

Then, Cragen comes rolling in the room in a tucked-ball. He unwraps himself and stands on his feet. "Ignitus demands our presence," he says.

The Dragons and Sparx follow Cragen rolling back to the room with the Pool of Visions. Aquadus finishes his water and takes one last mouthful of leaves and hurries to follow. Spyro sees me facing Volteer next to the Pool. The Guardian of Electricity was talking to me rapidly. After the Dragons and Sparx settle themselves around the Pool, I interrupt Volteer's rapidly talking.

"Yes, yes, Volteer," I say. "It's good to see you as well but we don't have time to waste on sentiment. Back to Cynder…she was doing what to you?"

Sparx's eyes are wide open. "Cynder's a chick?"

"Sorry, we didn't mention that before," says Zephyrav.

"By the way," Aquadus tells Sparx. "Cynder's a chick."

"It's hard to be absolutely sure, Ignitus," Volteer explains. "It seems she was using me like some sort of organic power source."

"Huh?" Sparx says.

"She was using him like a battery." Spyro clarifies to his foster brother.

"Why didn't he just say so?" the yellow Glowing Dragonfly shrugs.

"Not only that," Volteer continues. "She also left with a glowing yellow orb and left a glowing yellow crystal behind. I believe I somehow powered them up. One of the Apes used the crystal on the Dragons who had come to rescue me."

"Yeah," Emberor nods to me. "We did see an Ape carrying that yellow crystal to kill Spyro but when it hit him, he redirected it back and it was destroyed."

"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen." Sparx adds.

"Does this mean anything, Ignitus?" Cragen wonders.

My heart quickens thinking of what Cynder might be up to. "Perhaps," I murmur. "What I do know is that we need to rescue the other Guardians before Cynder can power any more of those orbs."

"I agree, Ignitus." Volteer made a curt nod. "But first I'd like to impart some useful knowledge to Spyro, vis-à-vis his recently-acquired, electricity-based, exhilaration device."

"Uh, what?" Sparx asks bewilderingly.

"He said he'd like to teach me some things about Electricity I used earlier." Spyro explains behind Volteer's fast speech.

"Oi," Sparx growls in irritation. "Why doesn't he just say so?"

* * *

In the Training Room, Volteer begins the teaching for Electricity to the Purple Dragon.

"So, you redirected Electricity from the crystal." Volteer notes. "Very fascinating. Purple Dragons sometimes learn how to use the elements on their own, but they would still need help from their mentors. It's always important for them to have-"

"Um, Volteer," Spyro interrupts. "I think we're getting off track here."

"Oh, so sorry," the Guardian of Electricity says. "Anyway, the way to use Electricity is to use the sustainable heart inside you. As you know, the heart pumps your blood. Now that you have the element, your heart also channels the life energy inside. When you're shocked or excited enough, the Electricity in it builds up."

Now it makes sense to Spyro why Volteer is so excited all the time. He must be powerful enough already. The Purple Dragon continues listening to Volteer.

"Once your heart is powered up, hold your breath and then let it out so an electrical beam can shoot out from the mouth. Shall we give it a try?"

Spyro nods, "Yes."

Volteer suddenly stomps his foot close to Spyro and shouts very loud. The Purple Dragon jumps away from him in surprise, his heart beats rapidly. He recovers quickly, noticing it, and holds his breath. He breathes again and Electricity shoots out of his mouth and it hits the wall.

"Splendid!" Volteer exclaims happily. "Well done! As you channel the Electricity, you can develop some techniques with it, such as making thunder bolts. But be careful, though, if you hold your breath for far too long…"

"…the Electricity will kill me?" Spyro guesses.

"Correct," Volteer says dipping his head. "Keep in mind. Now, let's practice with it more and then we'll work on the thunderbolts I was talking about."

Spyro's training last for more than a minute with Volteer still giving him jolts. His lesson with the thunderbolts went very simply. Volteer told him to shoot thunderbolts, he has to let every inch of his held-breath out.

* * *

After Volteer trained and scared Spyro so much in the Training Room, they go back to the Pool of Visions. When they return, the Guardian of Electricity calls his apprentice, Boltor, to him. Boltor approaches his master and stands in front of him.

Volteer smiles and says calmly, "Boltor, my apprentice, you have trained hard and you have fought with, intelligence, bravery and honor. I hereby dub you Dragon master of Electricity."

The young Electric Dragon was taken a step back but then he smiles with gratitude. Zephyrav, Emberor, Cragen, and Aquadus go to Boltor to congratulate him. They nudge their heads against him. Zephyrav gives him a lick on the head. Spyro joins in and pats Boltor on the shoulder. Sparx gives him his own personal thumbs up. Groverge does not bother to show his excitement but he gives his friend a little smile and a curt nod. I have done the same.

"Thank you, Volteer," Boltor tells him. "You taught me well."

"You are very welcome," Volteer dips his head.

"Well done for becoming a new Dragon master of Electricity, young Boltor," I say. "Now, all of you gather around. I have news of one of the Guardians."

Volteer sits with me in front of the Pool while the Dragon masters, apprentice, and Spyro are around it. Sparx hovers next to Spyro.

"Spyro," I begin. "Cyril, the Guardian of Ice, was taken to Tall Plains."

"What is that?" Spyro asks.

The new Dragon master of Electricity scoots over to the Purple Dragon. "Tall Plains is a land of high plateaus. It was once a home to a proud ancient tribe, creatures called Atlawa."

"Oh, bless you." Sparx tells Boltor.

"Sparx," Spyro groans in embarrassment.

I explain further. "The Atlawa are a race of creatures in tune with the rhythms of the seasons. They were focused on their relationship to crops, their surroundings, and their gods. They've all been driven underground by Cynder and her forces, who've taken over the tribe's Shrine. I sense that's where Cynder is keeping Cyril, trying to power another orb. You and Sparx must find him before she succeeds."

Spyro stands up and dips his head with his face filled with confidence, "Yes, sir."

"But if we see danger we should run…right?" Sparx checks in.

"There are times when all of us need to stand up to danger, young Sparx." I assure to him and the Dragons agree with me. "Zephyrav, Cragen, and Groverge will go with you."

"Yeah," Sparx says, "maybe next month I will stand up to danger, next summer, perhaps next year…"

"Just go!" I blurt out. "Now!"

"Okay, okay," Sparx says, holding his hands out, "just saying."

Spyro takes the lead out the door with Cragen, Sparx, Groverge, and Zephyrav close at his side off to seek out Cyril, Guardian of Ice.


	8. Chapter 7 - Feelings & Wisdom

Chapter 7

Feelings and Wisdom

The four Dragons and Sparx arrived at Tall Plains. High and large grassy plateaus stand above the cloudy mists. There are some that have forests, mountains, grottos, and waterfalls. Spyro, Cragen, Zephyrav, and Groverge are on a small plateau. A rope bridge is connected from it to a mountain, where they would start looking for the Ice Dragon, Cyril. Sparx gazes around the place. He believes there is going to be more than a number of Apes he had seen at Dante's Freezer.

"Right," Sparx moans. "It's never easy, is it?"

Spyro chuckles, "Nothing worthwhile ever is."

Sparx looks at him running on the bridge. "So now you're sprouting wisdom, hero boy?" he calls.

"C'mon, Sparx," says Cragen, following Spyro.

Sparx catches up to Spyro's side and matches his pace. Spyro looks down at the mist below. There is no telling how far down is it. When they reached the mountain, they see something frightening in the air. A giant-sized half-ram, half-vampire bat creature with an Ape holding a spear riding on its back flies overhead screeching. It disappears behind the mountain not noticing the Dragons.

"What was that?" asks Spyro.

"A Dreadwing," Cragen replies. "Apes use them for flying. We may need to stay on the plateaus and keep our eyes peeled."

The Dragons and Sparx have gone into a tunnel through the mountain. Sparx's glowing body lights up the dark cavern. The Dragons are proud to have someone like him. Drawings of figures on the walls come into sight. Spyro thinks these must be based on the history of the Atlawa. He wanted to look at more of them but reminded himself to get back on track. They found the end of the underground trail and Zephyrav sniffs the air.

"We got company up ahead," she says.

"How would you know?" Spyro asks.

"Wind Dragons can pick up a scent clinging in the air no matter where they are," Zephyrav explains. "We use the power of Wind by breathing and using the air currents around us. They're faithful companions to us. They look out for us, telling us when there is danger somewhere. I think of them as kindred spirits."

"Wow," says Spyro fascinated. "That's amazing."

"Yeah, it is," Zephyrav replies with a smile.

"So what's out there?" asks Cragen.

She closes her eyes and inhales the air through her nostrils again. "There are a few Ape guards out there," she tells her friends and then squints. "Honestly, they do smell. And…I think there are also Atlawa prisoners."

The Dragons and Sparx look outside to see for themselves. Platforms with grass are connected with rope bridges. Ape soldiers are everywhere armed with weapons. Ape archers from watchtowers are on the lookout. They are guarding five wooden cages that have fluffy, bipedal, llama-like creatures with dark-gray fur with light-gray shadings inside. Each is wearing fabric belts with blue buckles. The Purple Dragon presumes they could be the Atlawa. Four Dreadwings appear in the sky. One swoops in and snatches a cage from its spot with its feet. The others get their own cage and follow the first one out of sight. The last cage remains on the platform to the heroes' right.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Spyro states, looking at the cage.

"Does that mean what I think it does?" Sparx asks Cragen.

"It sure does." Cragen nods.

Sparx slaps his own face,"Oh, brother. This is never easy."

"Anybody have any ideas to save him?" Spyro asks.

"Allow me," Groverge growls, taking a couple steps forward from the Dragons.

Groverge digs his claws in the grass. The grass moves around like fingers. Around each watchtower, the grass grows much longer. Spyro is very amazed Groverge can do this. The growing grass has reached the towers' height and they wrap around them to crush them with the Ape archers screeching in fear.

The Ape soldiers on a bridge are exchanging glances with each other wondering what is going on. Zephyrav flies in and takes a deep breath to blow them off with her beak. The Apes screech in horror it echoed in the air while they fall in the cloudy mists. Zephyrav then flies to an Ape soldier and picks him off the ground to throw him off the cliff.

Cragen sees some more archers on a mountain ridge aiming their arrows at Zephyrav. He flies up to the wall and Cragen's head bashes against the wall horns first. The ledge the Ape archers are standing on crumbles and they fall to the ground.

While the Apes are busy with the older Dragons, Spyro flies to the Atlawa. Three Dreadwings appear in the sky and spot him. They descend to the plateau towards him.

Groverge glances at the flying beasts and digs his front claws in the grass again. A handful of grass grows longer and grasps a Dreadwing's leg. Groverge controls the grass to smash the Dreadwing and its rider around.

Zephyrav flies in and blows an Ape off the other Dreadwing. The rider lands next to the cage holding the Atlawa, feet first. Zephyrav gashes her talons on the evil flying creature's back. The Dreadwings screeches loud, losing control of its flying, and falls into the mist.

As Spyro's heart quickens, he holds his breath and breathes again to fire Electricity at the last Dreadwing. The Electricity struck the Dreadwing's heart and it falls. He goes to the last cage holding the Atlawa. The last Ape stands in his way armed with a sword and Spyro headbutts him. The Ape is flown backwards and he broke the wooden cage bars. The Atlawa is free. Spyro claws the Ape's face to finish him off.

"Watch it, will ya?" the Atlawa shouts in anger.

"I was just trying to help," Spyro explains in honesty while the other Dragons and Sparx join at his side. "We're ALL trying to help."

"Well," the Atlawa scoffs. "The Atlawa and I, Kane, chief of the tribe, need no help!"

"Oh, you were just about to spring into action, huh?" says Spyro, disappointed with Kane's ungratefulness.

"Forget this guy, Spyro," Sparx says. "Come on."

Spyro ignores his brother and asks Kane, "What were the Apes doing to you, anyway? And where are they taking the other Atlawa?"

"It's none of your business!" Kane spat. "Now, move out of my way! I've got a tribe to save."

And that is what he does, Kane dashes away out of site to where his people can be.

"Oh, you're welcome!" Sparx sarcastically calls after him.

"I wish he would have been more appreciative," Spyro says.

"Well, it's a thing when you have matters to deal with," Zephyrav states. "Let's move on."

* * *

Meanwhile, on a plateau with a big forest where a shrine lies on a hill, Cyril, the Dragon Guardian of Ice is lying on the stone floor tied up in chain. His body is scarred and bruised. Cynder, the loyal servant of Malefor, is there as well with her new Ape general now wearing heavy armor with spikes and Ape guards. A blue glowing glass orb is floating in the air. Blue energy comes out of Cyril's body and flows inside it.

"That's it," Cynder murmurs, staring at the orb, "a little more."

"Are you certain this will work, milady?" the Ape general asks.

"Of course, it will!" the black Dragoness spats. "Your King, Gaul, said so himself. I remember everything he told me what I must do. Once I have all five elemental energies from the Guardians, our victory will be assured."

"You…" Cyril speaks to Cynder, struggling in the chain, "…you will never fulfill your purpose. You will be stopped."

"Is that so?" asks Cynder grinning with an arched eyebrow. She places her foot on his head and strokes her metal claws across his cheek. Cyril flinches from the sharp tips. "I will succeed, no matter what."

"No!" Cyril growls. "You will not!"

"Shut up, you old worm!" the Ape general shouts. "No one's going to save you out here."

With the sound of a screech, Cynder and the general turn around to see an Ape soldier flying his Dreadwing to the plateau. When it landed, he jumps off it running to the two leaders.

"General! Cynder!" the soldier pants. "Dragons! We got Dragons!"

Cynder's white eyes flash in surprise.

Cyril grunts with a curt nod. "Now there's someone coming to rescue me," he says.

Cynder chuckles creepily, "About time too." She turns to her general. "Let's see if they can't survive this one. Release the Death Hounds."

"Yes, Cynder." the general bows.

* * *

Meanwhile, Spyro, Sparx, Groverge, Zephyrav, and Cragen run around Tall Plains hoping to find Cyril quickly. They come up to another high plateau after crossing a ladder bridge. An arrow comes in and strikes the ground in front of them. The Dragons glance to the left to see Ape archers on a watchtower aiming their bows and arrows at them. They fire more arrows and Spyro jumps ahead of the group to burn them all with his Fire breath. A breeze blows at Zephyrav and she makes a powerful wave of Wind with her feathered wings to knock the tower down. More Apes charge at them with spears pointing. Cragen runs at them and turns into a ball. All the Apes got knocked down to the ground.

"Ooh, sweet," Sparx says, smiling.

Five Dreadwings descend from the sky. The Apes riding them carry hand-bombs in a pouch attach to their belts. They throw one at the Dragons.

"Get out of the way!" Cragen hollers.

The Dragons spread out away from the bomb explosions. Spyro sees another bomb with a longer fuse coming down on him. The bomb landed on the grass, the fuse still sparkling. The fliers swing back for another attack and Spyro picks up the bomb with his mouth to throw it at the fliers. The live bomb went flying to one of the fliers and it goes into one his pouch lighting all the bombs' fuse with its long fuse. The Ape raises an eyebrow once he hears a hissing noise. He checks his pouch and his eyes are wide open.

"Oh, sh…!" he began to exclaim then the bombs explode.

The rest of the Dreadwings explode in a chain reaction.

"Boom, baby! Boom!" Sparx yells triumphantly and Zephyrav whoops loud.

"Good throw, Spyro!" Cragen cheered.

Spyro shrugs. "I wasn't expecting that to happen but thanks."

More Apes charge at the Dragons with their weapons aiming at them. Cragen spins around fast swinging his spiked ball tail around. It hits every Ape that stands in his way. Groverge breathes fire from an ember stalk and sets the Apes' fur on fire. The Apes screech in pain and runaway.

The Dragons and Sparx keep on moving. They enter an Atlawa village with rows of grains align next to a line of water destroyed. On the other side is another ladder bridge to another plateau with a forest. Two Ape soldiers jump in and block the Dragons way with their spears.

"Oh, please!" Zephyrav scoffs, rolling her eyes.

She blows cool wind at the two Apes and they are blown off the cliff. Three Dreadwings appear in the air, descending to the Dragons on the bridge. Apes aim their bows at them and release the arrows. Zephyrav flaps her blue feathered wings causing the arrows to fly in another direction. Spyro fires Electricity at two Dreadwings and they fall into the cloudy mists below. Then, Cragen releases a green energy laser from his mouth to hit the last one. That is another amazing discovery Spyro had seen from an Earth Dragon. They all reached the plateau and go deep in the forest. As they go further, there seem to be no more enemies to get in their way. Spyro thinks that is peculiar. The Dragons and Sparx found a clearing with a steep hill between rocky structures. They spotted two different ways.

"Where do we go?" Spyro asks.

Groverge spreads his toes apart on the soft grass and closes his eyes. He glances swiftly at the tunnel to their left.

"Cyril is that way," he says. "I can feel him on the grass on a different plateau." Groverge glances to a pathway to the right. "That way is where we'll find more Apes."

"Good work, Groverge," Spyro says, giving him a curt nod. "Let's get going."

When they were about to leave the clearing, Sparx becomes aware of Groverge going in the opposite direction.

"Oi, Groverge," Sparx calls and everyone stops. He points at the left direction where they are supposed to go. "Isn't the way to the Ice Dragon over there?"

"I'm not coming with you, guys," Groverge says facing the pathway.

"What? What are you talking about?" Spyro asks.

"I'm going where there are more Apes," Groverge pauses and then continues, "so there will be nothing in your way. Go on ahead. It…"

"Groverge," Zephyrav says, interrupting. "Cragen and I know what you're thinking."

Spyro sees a sadden look on Zephyrav's face. He glances back at the young Forest Dragon standing very still with his head down. Groverge is being very quiet as if he is turned to stone. Spyro has got a feeling that the Forest Dragon is going to tell him what had happened to him.

"Come on, Groverge!" Cragen tells him in frustration. "You're better than this!"

Groverge turns around to face his friends and says coolly, "I have to do this."

"Do what?" asks Spyro being gently.

Groverge looks at Spyro. His eyes begin to water and his claws dig through the grass. Sparx hovers in close to listen.

"I can't," Groverge sighs. "It's too painful to say."

Zephyrav walks to him and stands next to him. "I'm here," she whispers.

Cragen joins in, supporting his friend, as well. Groverge takes a few deep breathes and faces the Purple Dragon who is prepared to hear what is to come.

"It's about the time when the Apes raided the Dragon Temple on the Year of the Dragon," the Forest Dragon begins. "You remember Ignitus saying you were one of the eggs?"

Spyro nods and Groverge tells his story.

"When I was your age, all my life, I cared for the plants in the world as they cared about me. I use the power of Forest by using what I have in common with the plants; feelings. My parents taught me to use my feelings to communicate with them and that they're friends for life, besides other friends that is." A smile appears on Groverge and it surprises Spyro as he talks. "And whenever they decay, I can bring them back to life. I really enjoyed it. And then, as I got older, my heart had focused on something besides the plants. That was the eggs in the Temple.

"They're like seeds soon to be growing up so beautiful. Every day, I visited the Nesting Chamber to see the eggs thinking what they, including you, would be like when they do so. I was hoping someday I would take another Forest Dragon or Dragoness as my own apprentice and care for it like a parent." He pauses, his smile fading away once again, and continues, "Then, there came the devastation of the Apes.

"I was so afraid what would happen to the little ones if they fell into their hands. I joined with my friends and the Guardians, Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador, in the Nesting Chamber to protect the eggs with my life while Whisperav kept the Dark Armies away as she could and Ignitus took you to the Silver River. At first, in my belief, the little ones would be safe but I was wrong. The Apes knocked everyone out when they started fighting. I was the only one standing. I fought and fought and then they pinned me down. They took every single egg from the baskets and crushed them all. There was nothing I could do but lay there hopelessly and watch the massacre until an Ape knocked me out. I woke to see broken egg shells on the floor and baskets destroyed. The little ones were all gone. We've failed them. I for one failed them the most. There was nothing in my power to bring them back."

A tear rolls down from Groverge's eye when he blinks. Tears also began to come out of Spyro's eyes.

"I love the plants." Groverge breathes shuddering. "Those eggs, however, were more precious to me. They were the ones I hold most dear. Ignitus may have saved you, Spyro, but I…I saved none of them. I can't help anyone now. All I want to do is kill every Ape I can find."

"What," Sparx exclaims, "you can't help all because of your failure? Come on, you can still help! Look at you! You're such a tough guy! You can breathe fire! You can make those grass tentacle thingies!"

Spyro nods in agreement, "Yeah, you can't run out on us. We need you. Everybody needs you."

Groverge lowers his head not looking at the Purple Dragon or anyone.

"I doubt I can be strong this time. I feel angry all the time when I fight those Apes I call heartless murderers." He wipes the tears off his face. "I wish the eggs never died. I wish the war never happened."

"I wish that too," Zephyrav says softly nuzzling him, "more than anything."

"As do I," Cragen steps in. "The eggs were our last hope but everything will be all right now that Spyro's here. He'll lead us to victory and following that, we will have peace."

"If you stand and fight with us," Spyro adds boldly, "and let go of the pain, you will be strong and heal yourself. I felt the same way when Ignitus told me the young ones died and Cynder had destroyed our forestland. But I'm not going to let that get in my way and neither are you. What matters most is to move on and know what is best. Those little Dragons you swore to protect with your life now live in your heart. Your love for them makes you even stronger. Heck, it makes the plants stronger."

Groverge now lifts his head up slowly to look at the Purple Dragon, being speechless again. Spyro thinks he got through to him and Groverge was taking it in.

"Spyro, I think you bucked him up. You should keep this wisdom stuff." Sparx whispers in his ear.

Then, catching them by surprise, the Dragons and Sparx hear a howling sound. It echoes around them.

"What was that?" Sparx says, glancing in every direction. "Was that…? No, it sounds like something I've never heard before."

"We have." Cragen says.

Three big muscular half-wolf, half-rat creatures appear out of the forest growth and growl menacing-like at them.

"Whoa," Sparx exclaims, "big doggies, big doggies!"

"Death Hounds!" Groverge shouts.

The Death Hounds pounce. Cragen jumps up and tail whips his spiked ball tail to hit one of the Death Hound's chest. The Hound then hits the ground with its head. Its eyes stare at nothing. The other Death Hound attacks Spyro. Spyro takes off in the air and hovers below the Death Hound. The Death Hound jumps up trying to catch him with its mouth, barking deeply. Sparx flies in behind the Hound.

"Hold on, buddy. I'll save ya!" he hollers to Spyro.

Sparx pulls on the Death Hound's tale. The Hound squirms and pivots around to bite Sparx but Sparx keeps holding onto the tale.

"Bad doggy," Sparx exclaims, "bad doggy! Sit! Heel! Whoa!"

The Hound keeps spinning around to get Sparx like it was chasing its own tale and the Hound accidentally falls into a pit. Sparx let's go and returns on the surface.

"Thanks Sp-" Spyro begins but then shouts in panic. "Look out!"

The last Death Hound is running at Sparx. Sparx flies off in a direction and the Death Hound chases him around. Spyro bites down the Hound's hind leg to bring it down to the ground. Zephyrav stabs the beast with her claws.

Spyro exhales in relief, "Wow. That was easy. Was there just three?"

"Nope," Zephyrav answered, staring at the steep hill.

The Dragons and Sparx turn around and see more Death Hounds on the steep hill eyes glaring, teeth bearing, and drool oozing out of their mouths. One pounces and Zephyrav blows him back to the others. Groverge uses the grass beneath him to grasp a Hound's legs and burns it alive with his fire breath. Cragen stabs one's head with his horns and bites down another one's snout. Spyro spins around to whack his tale at a Death Hound.

"There's too many of them!" Cragen shouts.

"Do we run?" Sparx asks.

"Well," the Earth Dragon says shrugging, "like Ignitus said, 'you have to stand up to danger.' But, if there are a lot of enemies, then yes, you run. Run!"

The Dragons and Sparx turn and run to the tunnel to the left and the Death Hounds chase after them barking with tongues lolling out of their jaws. The Dragons use all their strength to run as fast as they can. Groverge looks back to see the Death Hounds are catching up. He and the others will not be able to make it out of this. Then, a scent clings to his nostrils. He takes a deep inhale while running and interprets where the scent is coming from. A river, he smells a rushing river. Groverge and his friends are heading to a waterfall. An idea comes to him.

"Guys," he calls and the Dragons and Sparx look at him. "I know where we're heading! I can smell it! When we reach the outside, get out of the way!"

Spyro, Zephyrav, Cragen, and Sparx nod in response to Groverge and kept running. Light appears before them as they get close. The Dragons rush out of the tunnel and see the rushing river below, leading to a waterfall.

"Now!" Groverge hollers.

Everyone takes a side and the Hounds burst out of the tunnel. They fell off the edge and splash into the water. Their ferocious barking is replaced with squirms of fear. The river takes the beasts to the waterfall where they fall in the misty fog below. The Dragons and Sparx roar in triumph.

"Groverge," Spyro says, glancing at the Forest Dragon in astonishment. "You did it! You saved our lives."

Groverge looks at the river where the Hounds had fell going in deep thought. A smile appeared on him.

"Yeah, I did," he tells the Purple Dragon. "Thanks to you, I see the way now. I'm never going to let you or my friends die for nothing. Like you said, what matters most is to move on and know what is best."

Excitement chills Spyro. He has brought wisdom to his friend.

"All right," Sparx cries, punching the air. He gives Groverge a hug on one of the horns on his head. Groverge chuckles and pats him on the back carefully.

Cragen slaps front foot on Groverge's back hard. "Good to see you having faith again, bud!" he shouts.

"Cragen, do you have to hit me so hard?" Groverge grunts in pain.

Spyro and Sparx laugh. Zephyrav moves close to the Forest Dragon and gives him a long smooth lick on the cheek. Groverge stares at her, disbelieving what she did. He breathes heavily and begins blushing. The others were, too, surprised what just happened. Something then caught Sparx's eye that moment.

"Hey, there's Kane!" he says pointing up.

The Dragons see Kane on top of another waterfall connected to the river above. Kane is surrounded by three Death Hounds. One Death Hound close to him snaps its mouth, trying to bite the chief of the Atlawa and he has fallen to the waterfall.

"Kane!" Spyro exclaims.

Kane falls down, splashing into the river. He resurfaces with his eyes closed. The river carries him to the other waterfall. The Death Hounds dash off out of sight.

"I know the guy's an ingrate," Sparx tells Spyro, "but you gotta do something and fast!"

As Spyro thinks of some ideas, his left lung starts feeling cold and then…he releases a winter breeze from his mouth. The breeze touches the river and turned it to ice. Kane is saved. Zephyrav, Cragen, Groverge, and Sparx gasp in shock.

"Buddy, you're getting weirder and weirder by the second," Sparx comments.

Spyro nods in agreement.

"Another element has come to you," the Wind Dragoness says in awe. "If we find Cyril, he'll teach you about Ice."

"Hmmm," says Spyro, cocking an eyebrow. "I wonder how I'm learning these things on my own."

"Let's get down there. We need to talk to Kane." Cragen says and jumps off the ledge. Spyro and Sparx follow him. Groverge stays where he is.

"Zeph, wait," he tells the Wind Dragoness just about to glide off the ledge.

"What?" she asks.

"Umm," he clears his throat. "Well, I just want to say that…"

Zephyrav places her talons on his lips. "Not now," she says, "after this mission."

She jumps off as Groverge watches her. He is growing very hot, as if his own fire power is getting out of control from inside, to think what is becoming between him and her. He shakes that thought away and jumps down to meet up with the Dragons.

Kane regained his consciousness but is still stuck in the ice. Cragen gently smashes his tail on the ice and the cracks shoot out across from the impact point. Kane gets himself out, the little ice pieces fall off his fur coat.

"Are you alright, Kane?" Spyro asks.

Kane glances to the group and says in frustration, "You again? Why don't you all get outta here and leave me in peace! I'm the boss here, nobody else!"

Sparx scoffs, "Boss of what?"

"Sparx, don't!" Spyro tells him, his front foot raised up in front of Sparx. He turns to Kane again. "You're all alone?"

"Only until I kick these bums out," he replies. "This reminds me, I can't stand here chatting with Dragons and a mosquito!"

"Hey, whoa, whoa," Sparx shouts angrily. "Who are you calling a mosquito? I'm a Glowing Dragonfly!"

"Besides, it's not safe for all of you here." Kane states ignoring Sparx.

"Oh, concern about our welfare now?" Sparx asks, hands on his hip.

"No need to worry." Zephyrav tells Kane. "We can take care of ourselves. Anyway, we need to get to the Shrine."

Kane shakes his head and says, "You'll never make it."

"Really," Zephyrav insists, "we can take care of ourselves. We have a friend of ours there. He needs our help."

"I know who you're looking for." Kane nods in response. "What I mean is that our Stone Sentinel, God of the Shrine, is in rage with us for not giving it tribute. He has been appeased since Cynder's forces came. He is now, unknowingly, Cynder's bodyguard."

"That's terrible." Groverge says.

"So, is anybody fun around here?" asks Sparx. Spyro shakes his head in frustration.

The chief of the Atlawa tribe walks to a path leading out of the area. "You can't possibly face the God of the Shrine alone," he says without looking back.

"We're all not loners, Kane." Groverge says. "I'm not going alone, not this time."

"Darn right you're not, Groverge." Cragen says.

The Dragons and the Glowing Dragonfly follow Kane out of the area to the Shrine.

Spyro matches Kane's pace and says, "Maybe someday you'll learn that more people are better than one, even if they are pin heads."

"Yeah," Sparx nods. He swiftly turns to Spyro, realizing something. "Wait, what?"


	9. Chapter 8 - Stone Sentinel

Chapter 8

The Stone Sentinel

On the high plateau with the Atlawa Shrine, Cyril keeps struggling to get out of the chain binding him as the energy flows from him going into the floating blue glass orb. Cynder has her shining white eyes on it, waiting for it to be done. Her Ape guards stand in their position eyes open for intruders. The blue orb glows brighter as the last of the flowing energy goes inside. A rotating pair of icicles appears inside it.

"It is done," Cynder says, smiling evilly. She uses her metal claws to grab the orb and brings it close to her. "Another orb powered up."

"Madam," the Ape general says, "what should we do now with the old Dragon?"

She takes her eyes off the orb to look at the general. "Since he has done what I needed him to do, leave him here," she suggests. "The Stone Sentinel will crush him when he awakens. It's time we leave this place. What happens is out of our hands now."

"And the Atlawa?" the general adds.

"Leave them behind as well. They can rot for all I care."

A Dreadwing glides down to the plateau and lands on its feet and wings. It caught the two leaders' attention. The rider jumps off and runs to the black Dragoness and the Ape general. He bows before them.

"They're coming, milady!" the Ape pants. "The Dragons are coming! All of our defenses are breached!"

"Oh," says Cynder, frowning. "I see the Death Hounds and YOU have failed to kill them."

"Wha… me, milady?" the Ape says, looking at her in confused.

"Yes," Cynder growls. "Have you forgotten you were part of my defenses of this place and you were supposed to kill intruders along with my other soldiers?" She moves her head close to the Ape. "Did you think you would survive if you come to me?"

The Ape soldier stands up as he stares at the black Dragoness in terror. "Milady," he begins, stammering.

Green liquid sprays out of Cynder's mouth and it went into the soldier's mouth. He accidentally swallows it. He clutches his throat gagging and coughing. Foam oozes out of his mouth. His eyes roll up to the sky. The soldier falls to his knees and slams his face to the ground.

Cynder spits the last of the poison out and turns back to the Ape general who was looking away from the dead body. "General," she says, "let's leave this to the Sentinel. The young Dragons will die along with Cyril. Get on your Dreadwing. We're leaving."

"Yes, Cynder," the Ape general says, dipping his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Dragons, Sparx, and Kane are on a high plateau with a rope bridge leading to the Shrine. Spyro still had complaints with his left lung being cold ever since he breathed Ice to save Kane's life and was trying to stay on task.

"I have to admit, Purple Dragon," Kane remarks. "You've done better than I thought possible when I saw you again fighting together with your friends against those Apes."

"Awww, saying that had to hurt." Sparx says mockingly.

"More than you can imagine." Kane groans. "There is something I need to tell you before you reach the Shrine…"

"Get down! Get down!" Cragen interrupts loudly and hides behind a rock.

Spyro glances around to see what is coming. Kane grabs him by the wing and drags him to the rock with Cragen. Sparx, Groverge, and Zephyrav quickly join them. Spyro and Sparx poke their heads out to see a black Dragoness flying away from the Shrine as she holds a blue glowing orb in her claws, roaring horrifyingly. Seven Dreadwings follow her.

"Is that…Cynder?" Spyro breathes, staring at the Dragoness.

"It is," says Zephyrav. "She must be finished making another orb from Cyril's power. We're too late."

"And I think we're done here." Sparx says quickly.

"Not before we rescue Cyril." Spyro tells his brother.

"All clear," Groverge says.

They all come out of hiding and Kane continues, "As I was saying, the Shrine God will be expecting someone coming near his Shrine. He is still angry with us. As long he is angry, the seasons will be unbalanced and Tall Plains will be in chaos. But if all of you can subdue the God's anger, the balance will be returned and my people will come home. As for your friend, Cyril, you must go through the God of the Shrine to free him. The God will crush him when he awakens."

"Knew you were going to say that," Sparx says irritably.

"We must get through the God of the Shrine, then." Spyro tells Kane. "We'll subdue his anger and save your home."

"Okay," Kane nods. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to save my people from those Apes. Good luck."

The chief of the Atlawa tribe runs off down the path behind Spyro. The Dragons and Sparx crossed the rope bridge to the Shrine. They can see Cyril still tied up in chains on a stone floor.

"Be careful, guys." Spyro says, glancing to his friends. "Stay sharp. The God of the Shrine is around here somewhere."

The Dragons nod in agreement. Groverge sees Sparx moving ahead of them. "Sparx…" he calls.

"I know, I know," Sparx says. "But Cynder left and I don't see a god hanging around this place."

Sparx keeps moving closer to Cyril until suddenly, a stone hand bursts out of the ground before him. Sparx yelps in surprise. An entire figure rises from the ground shaking dirt off of him. Its entire body is made out of stone. Its face is like a tiki. Moss and vines rest on its back. Its arms are big while its legs are a bit small. It is the Stone Sentinel, God of the Shrine.

"When will I learn?" Sparx groans. "When things look bad, run for the hills."

The God of the Shrine turns around to see Cyril. He roars in anger and walks to him making thundering footsteps. Cyril struggles to break the chain as the Stone Sentinel closes in.

"I'm going in!" Zephyrav yells, flying to the helpless Ice Dragon.

"We're right behind you!" calls Cragen.

The Stone Sentinel aims his mighty fist at Cyril's head to crush it. Zephyrav flies in and flaps her wings hard to blow Cyril away from him. The Stone Sentinel brings his fist down and hits the stone floor. Spyro sprints to him from behind and rams into his knees. The God roars in surprise and collapses. Cragen runs to Zephyrav and Cyril.

"Zeph, go help the others," he tells her. "I'll free Cyril."

"Okay," Zephyrav says with a curt nod.

Cyril gazes at Cragen and smiles. The young Earth Dragon smiles back.

"I knew you would come," the Ice Dragon utters. When he sees Spyro, he gasps in surprise, "Is that a Purple Dragon?"

"You bet it is," Cragen replies, breaking the chains off Cyril with his teeth.

Spyro climbs up on the God to talk to him but the Stone Sentinel grabs him with his hand and throws him off. He stands up and aims his foot at Spyro. Spyro dashes out of the way and the God stomps on air. Groverge digs his claws in the dirt and commands the grass to grasp the Sentinel's feet. Zephyrav flies around the God of the Shrine and blows wind at him to bring him down. The God is stuck.

Spyro faces him. "God of the Shrine, listen to me!" he yells. "You don't have to be angry anymore."

The Stone Sentinel roars at him and Spyro is blown into a pile of bushes. The Stone Sentinel pulls his feet free breaking the grass holding him. Zephyrav blows harder at the Sentinel but the God is too strong. He snatches Zephyrav from the sky and tightens his fist to crush her. She grits her teeth and yells in pain.

"ZEPH!" Groverge shouts in panic.

Spyro flies out of the bushes and hovers next to the God still causing injury to the Wind Dragoness. "STOP!" he pleads with the Sentinel. "There's no reason to hurt her! Calm down and listen to me!"

The Sentinel ignores him and throws Zephyrav at Groverge. Groverge jumps up to catch Zephyrav. Her impact pushes him back. They land on the grass and Groverge recovers fast to move to his friend. Groverge's heart is pounding hard as Zephyrav lies there quietly. He shakes her shoulder but it did not wake her. He lost the lives of the eggs at the Temple. He is never going to lose anyone else again. To his relief, Zephyrav moans.

"You're going to be okay, Zeph," he breathes. "You're going to be okay. I'm here."

Zephyrav opens her eyes seeing him and sighs. Groverge lies beside her to check on her injuries.

"It's okay, Groverge," Zephyrav says softly. "Go help Spyro."

"I'll be back," Groverge promises. He runs back to Spyro as Zephyrav rests her head on the ground.

"How is she?" Spyro asks Groverge.

"She's going to be fine," he replies.

Cragen joins in leaving Cyril with a few more chains to go.

"How are you doing?" he asks.

"No luck," Spyro shakes his head, sounding defeated. "We can't seem to get him to listen." Swiftly, an idea pops into his head. "Okay, I got a plan. Cragen, make a hole under the Sentinel," he turns to the Forest Dragon, "and Groverge, command all of the grass and trees to hold him down. Then I can come in and talk to him. We all need to work together."

"All right!" growls Cragen.

"With pleasure," Groverge says.

Cragen turns into a ball and rolls under the Sentinel to make an earthquake crack. The Sentinel's legs plunge into the crack and Cragen jumps on top of the Sentinel to slam him down deeper. Groverge commands every grass and every tree to hold the God down. The long grass grasps his forearms and the trees' branches press on his shoulders and back. The God of the Shrine roars in anger trying to break free. Groverge uses all of his strength to hold him tight. Every long growing grass squeezes tight. For a moment, the God breathes heavily, calming down a little. Spyro stands in front of him.

"God of the Shrine," Spyro begins, hoping he has the chance. "Please, listen to me and you will understand why the Atlawa didn't give you tribute."

The Sentinel looks at him, finally allowing him to speak but keeps his angry gaze. Spyro takes a breath calming down as well.

"The Atlawa still respect you. It's the evil creatures that are to blame. They captured them to make you think they deserted you. Worst of all, the evil creatures used you as a bodyguard. If you keep feeling angry, the seasons will be unbalanced and the entire place will be in chaos for nothing. But you don't have to worry. We saved the Atlawa from the evil creatures. They will give you tribute just as it should be. Always have, always will."

The God of the Shrine's angered face changes to a thoughtful look as Spyro talks.

"Groverge, Cragen," says Spyro. "You can release him."

"Are you sure?" Cragen asks in caution.

"Yeah, yeah," says Spyro, nodding.

Cragen helps the God out of the ground while Groverge commands the grass and trees to let go of him. The trees stand tall and the grass shrinks down to their normal sizes. The God stands in front of Spyro and gives him a pet on the head. Spyro thinks he is saying "thank you".

"Aw," says Sparx with hand together, "the God has you as a pet. How sweet is that?"

"Ha, ha," Spyro sarcastically says, "very funny."

The God shrinks down to the ground from whence he came. Cragen and Groverge cheered for Spyro, they won because of him. He brought wisdom not only to Groverge, but to a God of a tribal people. The Purple Dragon feels good about it. He, Sparx, and Groverge walk back to Zephyrav while Cragen finishes getting the chains off Cyril.

"How are you feeling, Zeph?" Spyro asks. "Can you still fly?"

Zephyrav stands up and says, "Let me see if I can."

She flaps her blue feathered wings and they take her off the ground. She touches back down. "I can still fly, though my right front leg is hurt," she says, smiling. "I'll walk it off."

Both Groverge and Spyro sigh in relief.

"Good for you, beautiful," Sparx tells her, giving her a nick-name which she does not mind.

"Thank you, Groverge," the Wind Dragoness says. "That was a good catch."

"You're welcome," the Forest Dragon replies.

Cragen comes to join them with Cyril, freed from the chains, beside him. Just then, they all see Kane and his freed Atlawa walking across the rope bridge to meet them. The chief of the tribe approaches them with a pleased look.

"You have subdued the God of the Shrine, restored balance to seasons and our world," he says. "The Atlawa want to worship you now."

The Dragons see the Atlawa bowing and chanting to them.

"Worship," says Sparx, feeling interested. "Okay, now that's what I'm talkin' about." To Zephyrav, he says. "I've never gotten the respect I deserve, the praise that should be mine."

Zephyrav rolls her eyes and sighs, "Oh, Sparx, you're silly."

"My dear Atlawa," the yellow Glowing Dragonfly states in a deep voice. "I am the mighty Sparx, scourge of despots."

The young Dragons laugh hysterically, especially Groverge.

"That's very nice of you, Kane," Spyro says to him. "But we have to get back to our home, figure out how to stop Cynder for good."

"Yes, yes, dear boy," says Cyril, nodding, "we'd like nothing more than to stay and be part of your primitive, barbaric society, but duty calls. Duty calls."

"If you must, you must." Kane says, bowing with his hand on his heart. "But know that you're now part of the Atlawa tribe…one of us."

The Dragons dip their heads to Kane in thanks.

"By the way, you were right," Kane tells Spyro, smiling.

"About what?" Spyro asks.

"Maybe more people are better than one, even if one of them is an annoying mosquito."

"I heard that!" Sparx yells in anger.


	10. Chapter 9 - Ice Training

**Hello, readers. I apologize for the long wait. I wanted to add more stuff to Chapter 11 before I post it. Enjoy.**

 **P.S. To all those who were expecting a Groverge and Zephyrav moment in the story, here ya go!**

* * *

Chapter 9

Ice Training

Back at the Dragon Temple, Spyro and his team got Cyril home safely. Spyro told me, Volteer, Emberor, Boltor, and Aquadus that the Ice element had come to him and Groverge had faith again about winning the war against Cynder. He had helped Groverge let go of the pain from the death of the eggs. We were all delighted to hear such good news. Spyro is getting stronger by the minute and we will need every bit of the young Forest Dragon's restored strength.

We are gathered around the Pool of Visions with Cyril.

"Yes, yes, Volteer," Cyril interrupts Volteer's rapid speaking. "I see that months of tortured captivity have done nothing to slow that electric tongue of yours from incessantly wagging."

"It's just that it's all so exciting, exhilaration, enchanting, enthralling…" Volteer says rapidly.

"All right," says Sparx. "No more thesauruses for you, pal,"

"All of you please be quite!" I shout.

Volteer and Cyril stop arguing and look at me.

"It is certainly encouraging that Spyro and the rest of these young Dragons have been able to free the two of you to allow this reunion." I say. "But haven't we forgotten someone?"

"I know who," Aquadus speaks, "Terrador."

"Yes, yes, my boy," Cyril nods, "Terrador and Whisperav. They might be somewhere very secure."

Everyone looks at Cyril in surprise.

"It seems you haven't heard, old friend," I state.

"Heard?" says Cyril. "Heard what?"

"Whisperav is dead."

The Ice Dragon gasps and looks at Zephyrav. She nods and explains that her mother had died to save the young Dragons, me, and her daughter from the wrath of Cynder.

"Oh, Zephyrav, please forgive me," Cyril says solemnly. "I didn't know."

"It's okay, Cyril," Zephyrav replies.

"The memory of Whisperav will live on with our Ancestors," I say. "Terrador is still alive, I assure you, but I don't know where he is being held captive yet. Now, where do we proceed?"

"I believe I can help, Ignitus." Cyril volunteers. He glances to Spyro and says, "Well, young chap, since you have gotten the element of Ice, I suggest we adjourn to the Training Room so I can teach you." He continues as Sparx places his hand on head shaking with frustration. "The legacy of the great Ice Dragons of yore…my Ancestors, who come from the best of the best of this somewhat bedraggled lineage, is long and storied. With my help, rescuing Terrador, Guardian of Earth, should be a certainty."

Volteer sighs heavily at Cyril. "Your pomposity, arrogance, and pretentiousness are odious to the extreme," he utters.

"Shall we, Spyro?" Cyril asks.

"Yes." Spyro says, dipping his head.

"Then, off to the Training Room we go."

* * *

In the Training Room, Spyro stands in the middle of the circle and Cyril stands on the edge.

"Tell me," says Cyril. "When you used Ice, how did you feel?"

"My left lung felt cold." Spyro explains. "It's as if a winter breeze was inside it."

"That's the feeling of your ice lung, alright. You have your fire lung and now you have an ice lung."

The Purple Dragon raises an eyebrow in shock and asks, "Two lungs each with one power?"

Cyril nods in response.

"I really didn't know that," he says shrugging. "By the way, how is it I used each element one by one for the first time when nobody taught me yet?"

"That is a good question, Spyro. Purple Dragons, like you, feel the elements and abilities they were born to use. When you first use each one unexpectedly, they're signs for you're ready to wield them."

"Now I understand."

"Good," says Cyril, making a curt nod. "Let's get to the Ice training. Like I said, the way to use the power of Ice is to use your left lung. While you use your fire lung to breathe Fire, you can use your ice lung to breathe Ice. You will have to concentrate on the sensations within each. First, close your eyes and then feel the coldness within it to open it. Show me what you can do."

Spyro closes his eyes and takes deep breaths as he goes deep in his body to the left lung. When he starts to feel it, his chest starts to get really cold. He opens his eyes and shivers.

"Excellent, Spyro," Cyril says. "Breathe."

Spyro blows and a breeze of snow comes out to hit the wall and ice forms on it crackling. Spyro then focuses on his fire lung to warm himself up. Spyro sighs heavily relieved that was over.

"Good job, Spyro," Cyril congratulates him. "That was a good try. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," says Spyro, nodding. "I felt like an icicle."

"Be warned, young Dragon. If you concentrate on your fire lung for too long, you will burn. If you concentrate on your ice lung for too long, you WILL be an icicle. The two of them balance your temperature now. You cannot breathe with one at a time to live. Why don't we practice with it again? You will have the strength to withstand the cold as we go. Of course it's going to take a while."

"Okay," says Spyro, inhaling through the nose. "Let's give it another go."

* * *

Meanwhile, in a chamber in the Dragon Temple, Groverge pushes a big basket to one side of the wall. He picks up a foot-full of little broken shell pieces off the floor and puts them in it. On the floor all around him are colorful blankets and other pieces that appear to belong to eggs. Other baskets were burnt and torn apart. A fire had been lit in the fireplace on the back wall. The torches on the walls are lighting up the chamber. This place was where Groverge and his friends protected the Dragon eggs on the Year of the Dragon from the Apes and they all failed. Every egg was crushed by the Apes. Groverge found this room when the meeting at the Pool of Visions was over and needed to clean it so it was the way it was before.

He sweeps all the egg pieces on the floor into a pile and puts them in the only basket that was not destroyed. He folds up the colorful blankets and stacks them in two piles. He catches a glimpse of a Dragon standing next to the door as he reaches for a red blanket spread on the floor. It is Zephyrav. She enters the room to meet the Forest Dragon.

"Hi," Zephyrav smiles.

"Hey," Groverge replies.

"You need some help?"

"No, it's okay. I got this."

He grabs one corner of the red blanket and folds it in half. Zephyrav places her foot on Groverge's to stop him folding it again and he looks at her.

"I'm proud of you for moving on," she says. "Seeing you so devastated made me so sad."

Groverge nods in appreciation and sits down, "I was too overwhelmed to focus on what was important when the eggs were gone, too much for me to bear. Spyro is such a nice guy. I really owe him one. I needed someone like him." Smiling at her, he bravely adds. "Zeph, I want to thank you also."

"Me?" Zephyrav asks.

"Yeah, you see, my mind twisted and kept going as the images of dead babies flash in my head. But you stood by me trying so hard to comfort and cheer me up. You never stopped until I took your word for it. So, thank you for trying all you could. You've been the greatest friend to me. Without you, I would still be ashamed of myself."

Zephyrav smiles delightfully. "You're welcome," she says.

She takes a step closer to Groverge and strokes her tongue on his face. Groverge feels like his feet are stuck in place.

"This is what I like about you, Groverge," the Wind Dragoness whispers softly, "so loyal and very compassionate."

Groverge inhales deep and let out a sigh, excited for what he thought was true; their friendship has changed to love.

He nuzzles his head against hers and breathes softly, "Zeph, I…I…" He chuckles, trying to say it.

"I know." Zephyrav says, giggling. "You're in love with me." She nuzzles him back and gives him another kiss. "Guess what? I am, too."

Groverge stands in a daze, his heart beating fast from her words. While giggling, Zephyrav brushes her tail under his chin causing him to shiver. Without thinking, Groverge kisses her cheek multiple times. She smiles big, eyes closed. Zephyrav takes the red blanket from him to unfold it on the floor. They all lie down on the blanket and begin the best moment of their lives. Zephyrav nuzzles her head against his chest. As she kisses his right cheek multiple times, she, again, brushes her tail on his back foot and Groverge starts to chuckle.

"Oh," Zephyrav whispers interestingly. "I forgot how ticklish you are." She scratches her talons rapidly on his belly.

"No!" Groverge laughs hard. "Stop it!"

The Wind Dragoness stands up and uses her feathered tail to wiggle it on his stomach. While laughing, he struggles to grab her front legs and brings her back down on the blanket. He has the upper hand now.

"Okay," he says to his love, smiling. "Now let's see how you take it."

He uses his claws to tickle her on the belly. Zephyrav yelps and laughs hard. She tries to protect herself but he is too fast for her. The Forest Dragon loves the sound of her laughs. It makes him happy. He stops, letting Zephyrav catch her breath. They look at each other and grin. Groverge wants to say more to this beautiful Dragoness, but his tongue is being held. All he wants to do now is stay with her, feeling the softness and warmth of her feathered body, and the nibble of her beak on his cheek. The Forest Dragon is enjoying it all and he never wants it to stop. There was nothing more that could make this young Dragon happier.

* * *

Groverge opens his eyes slightly with a blurry vision and lifts his head up. He moans and rubs his eyes to make it clear. The Nesting Chamber is quiet with the flagging noises coming from the fireplace and the torches on the walls. Beside him, Zephyrav snoozes peacefully on the red blanket. Her feathers were messed up from the cuddling. Groverge wonders how long they have been sleeping in this room. Spyro's training with Cyril must be done already. Groverge gently nudges Zephyrav's shoulder with his head and Zephyrav opens her eyes. She opens her beak to yawn. She turns over to see Groverge and smiles.

She kisses his chin and murmurs, "What time is it?"

"I don't know but I think we've overslept." Groverge says softly. "Let's get back to the Pool of Visions."

Zephyrav's eyes grow wide and she gasps, "Oh, oh, right. Yeah, let's go back."

She stands up, stretches her legs and wings, and fixes her feathers. Together, they walk quickly back to the room.

"Zeph, promise me one thing." Groverge says to her as they walk.

"Anything, Groverge," Zephyrav tells him.

"When we get married and have hatchlings of our own, let's raise them and teach them together."

The Wind Dragoness's eyes brighten and smiles big.

She nods and says, "Groverge, my love, that's definitely a promise."

Zephyrav presses her head against his head and Groverge licks her cheek smoothly.

They arrive at the Pool of Visions. Volteer and I are there along with the Dragon masters and apprentice. Spyro and Cyril are here as well, back from the Training Room. Groverge and Zephyrav are a bit late.

"There you are." Emberor says, seeing the two Dragons. "Where were you, guys?"

"Well, you know." Groverge replies, figuring out what he should say. "Just talking…in the Nesting Chamber."

Slowly but surely, Spyro and his friends figured out what were they up to. They did not bother telling them for it would be embarrassing.

"Oh, I know what you two have been doing," Sparx snickers.

"Sparx," Spyro says his brother irritably.

Understanding what happened in their absence, I tell everyone to pay attention.

"My friends," I begin, "I have seen something of utmost importance in the Pool. The loyal servant of Malefor is drawing near to complete her plan for her Dark Master."

"What exactly are you saying, Ignitus?" Cyril asks, leaning closer.

"Yes," Volteer says, agreeing to the Ice Dragon, "your hypothesis is an intriguing one but it is perplexing to the extreme."

"Huh?" Sparx says.

"He doesn't know what Ignitus is saying, either." Spyro clarifies.

"Dude, I never know what he's saying," Sparx states.

"What I'm saying is that Cynder is trying to harness power from us to unlock a portal that must never be opened." I say to Volteer and Cyril. "The Guardians before us, with the elemental powers; Fire, Electricity, Ice, Earth, and Wind, have something to do with this. Cynder has the orbs of Electricity and Ice from the two of you and, this I'm certain of, the orb of Wind. Cynder must have harnessed it from Whisperav before she killed her." I pause, hearing Zephyrav exclaim quietly to hear what the black Dragoness had done to her mother and mentor. Groverge nuzzles his love to comfort her as I continue, "All Cynder needs to gain now are the orbs of Earth and Fire from Terrador...and me."

The Guardians and older Dragons around Spyro and Sparx murmur amongst themselves in fright.

"Why can't this portal be opened?" Spyro asks me. "What is behind it?"

"That doesn't concern you right now, Spyro." I tell him. "What does concern you is getting to Munitions Forge."

Spyro cocks an eyebrow, "Munitions Forge?"

"Munitions Forge is a place on an island dominated by an unstable volcano named Boyzitbig. It makes life on the surface very hazardous." Groverge explains.

"The locals who live underground are being forced to mine the metals that Cynder uses to forge her army's armor and weapons." I put in.

"What are the locals called?" Spyro asks me.

"They're called Manweersmalls, blind creatures. They see by smelling."

"Right, do I need to write that down?" asks Sparx.

"Rumor has it that Cynder is holding Terrador somewhere in the mines." I say. "We know she's using him to power another orb that she needs to activate the portal. Free Terrador before Cynder can get away with it."

"And before the volcano…" says Volteer, making an explosion noise. "…blows its-"

"That's enough, Volteer." I interrupt him. To Spyro, I say, "Don't worry. There's plenty of time…plenty of time. Emberor, Cragen, and Boltor will go with you."

"Let's go, then." Boltor says.

"Let's rock and roll!" Cragen hollers. "Master, we're coming!"

Spyro is amazed there is another apprentice in the group. He walks with his friends to the platform outside. The other Dragons wish them luck as they leave the room.

"'Plenty of time'?" says Sparx, freaking out at Spyro's side. "What? We need more time to have horrible things happen to us?" Sighing in frustration, he adds. "Why didn't we just stay in Tall Plains? Oh, I'm a big deal there."

Spyro smiles and says, "Quit complaining, Sparx. Maybe there's a tribe on Munitions Forge you can save too."

"Yeah, but there's always something special about the first tribe you save. Ya know?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Cynder's fortress, Cynder walks through the black halls lit with torches with her white eyes glowing. She passes three pedestals close to two doors guarded by Apes with spears. On top of each pedestal she passed are the elemental orbs. The blue Ice Orb with a pair of icicles rotating, the blue Wind Orb with a little tornado in it, and the yellow Electricity Orb with an electrical beam. The Ape guards open the doors for Cynder. They reveal a room with a big glass globe on a pedestal, in front of a window. Cynder enters the room and the doors behind her closes. She faces the glass globe and bows to it. The interior of the glass globe slowly fills with dark shadowy clouds. Bright glaring yellow eyes with round black pupils appear and blink.

"Malefor, my Dark Master." Cynder rasps, gazing at the eyes.

"Cynder, my loyal servant," the Dark Master speaks in a deep, distorted, and menacing voice. "Thank you for coming back. It is a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise," she replies.

"You have something to report?"

"I have good and bad news. The bad news is the Purple Dragon has survived as you said he would and I didn't believe it. He rescued two of the Dragon Guardians, Cyril and Volteer, with the help of young Dragon warriors. The Dreadwing spies say he's getting stronger by the minute. The Dragons are almost together, master. They need to be destroyed."

"We'll take care of them," the Dark Master guarantees, "just not yet. Give me the good news."

"The good news is I still have the Wind Orb from Whisperav and I have two more from Volteer and Cyril. Terrador is almost finished with the fourth one. After that, Ignitus is next. I will find him and get his energy."

"Perfect," Malefor's eyes shine. "You're doing well, Cynder. I'm most pleased with your progress. Continue making the orb from Terrador and find Ignitus. All five must be brought to Convexity once you've open the portal. My revenge on those Dragons will be glorious. Then, I shall resume my plans on the world with you by my side."

Cynder's eyes glow, "I will bring the orbs, master. Nothing can stop me."

"And when you see that Purple Dragon," the Dark Master concludes, "kill him. I don't want another one getting in the way this time."

"Yes, my master." Cynder dips her head. "I'll end him."

Malefor's eyes vanish in the glass globe along with the shadowy mists. Suddenly, the doors burst open behind Cynder and the Ape general runs to her.

"Milady!" the general yells.

"What is it, General?" the black Dragoness whips her head at him in anger. "What did I tell you about disturbing me?"

"Yes, yes!" the general says, kneeling to her. "I'm sorry to intrude but I have news of the Purple Dragon."

"What about him?" Cynder demands. "Spit it out!"

"The Dreadwing spies reported he and his allies are heading to Munitions Forge. We presume they're trying to rescue the Earth Dragon, Terrador."

Cynder's white eyes glow in surprise. She moves her head closer to the general's.

"Munitions Forge?" she breathes.

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN!**


	11. Chapter 10 - Saving the Manweersmalls

Chapter 10

Saving the Manweersmalls

The four Dragons and Sparx arrive on the red earth colored shores of Munitions Forge. Machines are positioned all around the island operating the works, forging the Dark Armies' weapons. Rail tracks on the ground and trestles are set for mine carts. The giant volcano, Boyzitbig, spits lava and the lava flows down the slope to the fuel line for the Ape workers to make the blades.

"Boy, is it big!" Sparx says, staring at the volcano.

"Boy, it's big," Spyro nods in agreement. "But no time for sightseeing. Time to get serious. Let's go."

Spyro catches up with Emberor, Cragen, and Boltor who gone ahead.

Sparx growls in frustration, "Not again!"

They walk to an iron gated entrance only to find that they were caught. Ape guards spot the Dragons from the top of the entrance and one of them blows a horn for an alert. Apes come out of the entrance and attack the Dragons. Boltor fires Electricity at two soldiers. Two more charge at Boltor screeching menacingly and he hits his wings on their chests. He tail whips both of them to finish them. An Ape behind him aims his battle ax at his back. Boltor dodges, letting the ax hit the ground and uses his mouth to grab the Ape by the shoulder to throw him at another soldier coming at him.

Emberor inhales the air through his mouth and shoots fire balls at each Ape coming at him. Two come up from behind and grab his wings. Emberor lights his wings on fire burning the Apes. The Apes screech in pain. An Ape attacks him with a spear pointing at him. Emberor takes the spear away from him with his claws and breathes Fire to fry him.

Cragen is fighting back to back with Spyro. Spyro shoots a lightning bolt from his mouth at an Ape guard. Three jump in with swords aiming at him. Spyro spins around to flick the swords out of their hands with his tale and headbutts the first one, burns the second one's face with his Fire breath, and he freezes the third Ape's face with his Ice breath. He sweeps his tale on the ground to trip a muscular Ape with a spiked mace from behind. Cragen switches sides with Spyro and he slams his spiked ball tail on the muscular Ape's rib cage. Another Ape charges at him and hits him on the head with his wooden bludgeon. The weapon breaks into splinters and Cragen did not feel a thing. The Ape looks at him with fright. Cragen shakes his head while smiling at the Ape. He swings his tale to hit him in the chest and spins downward to clobber him on the head. Spyro sees an Ape aiming his jagged sword at the Earth Dragon and he bites down on his wrist. The Ape drops the sword and Cragen turns around to see his attacker. He inhales sharply through the nose and exhales sharply and green energy comes out of it to hit the Ape in the heart. The soldier falls.

All the Apes are defeated and the way underground was clear.

"All right, let's go in." Emberor says, going inside the gate. Spyro and the others walk with him.

* * *

Lava streams rush by the group on the side of the path. The steam partly clouds their view. Despite being unable to see very well, the Dragons and Sparx see a mole-like creature with a white lengthen beard and mustache, wearing a red hat with a red feather, facing two tunnels.

"Man, is he small," Sparx remarks.

The creature turns around quickly and waves his walking stick around to find Sparx with his eyes blind.

"What's that?" the creature shouts in a type of French accent. "Who's there?"

"W-We're right here." Spyro stammers, while the creature sniffs the air.

The creature with the red hat points his walking stick at Spyro. "Who are you?" he demands. "What do you want?"

"I'm Spyro," the Purple Dragon introduces himself to him.

"Emberor," the Fire Dragon tells him.

"Cragen," the Earth Dragon says, standing at his side.

"Boltor," the Electric Dragon introduces himself.

The small creature glances at each Dragon as they state their names.

"And I'm the former god of Tall Plains, Sparx," the Glowing Dragonfly says, making a deep voice.

The creature sniffs at each Dragon including Sparx with his walking stick lowered. "All of you don't carry the stench of Cynder's beasts, so you must be friends," he says and picks his ear. "And by the sound of your names, you must be Dragons."

"That's right," Boltor says.

"Who are you?" Spyro asks.

"I am Mole-Yare, leader of the Manweersmalls. But I'm not much of a leader anymore. Those of my people, who aren't mining for Cynder, are held up in the caves scared out of their wits, waiting for Boyzitbig to blow."

A rumble sounds and the cave shakes. The Dragons glance around to make sure the cave is not collapsing. Lucky for them, it did not collapse.

"Which shouldn't be long," Mole-Yare predicts, lowering his head. Bringing it back up, he says, "If you help me free them, perhaps there's something I could do for you."

The Dragons look at each other uncertain what help Mole-Yare can be.

"I don't know." Spyro shrugs. "We're rescuing a big friend of ours. Do you have any idea where we could find him?"

"Is he a mighty Dragon?" Mole-Yare asks.

"Yeah," Spyro answers.

"Yes!" the leader of the Manweersmalls jumps. "I know where he's being kept! He's in the mines near a large labor camp, where my brother, Exhumor, toils away. We can help each other."

"Hmmm," Spyro says, scratching the back of his head thinking. "Which way do we go? What should we do next?"

"Oh, it's simple enough, but we've got to hurry." Mole-Yare tells him. "Boyzitbig is getting more unstable by the minute. We must clear all the caves before we can help your friend."

Sparx hovers in front of Spyro and says, "And you're asking him for directions? Wow, talk about blind leading the blind."

"What?" Mole-Yare yells in anger. "That's disrespectful! I demand to know who said that!"

"Forget him, Mole-Yare." Spyro says. "We're in."

"Oh, good, good," Mole-Yare brightens. He points to the tunnel to the left. "There, take that cave and it will take you to groups of trapped-Manweersmalls. Free them. Free them all!"

"We're on it!" Emberor says.

They all go through the left tunnel and Cragen bursts a wooden door at the end open. The door is off its hinges stuck on his horns shielding his eyes. The door he took down lead them to a chamber with Ape guards everywhere. The Manweersmalls are shackled in chains connected to the cavern walls. An Ape Captain commands his soldiers to attack the Dragons and the Apes take out their weapons to fight.

Emberor scratches one soldiers eyes and calls, "Spyro, you go with Boltor and free the Manweersmalls! Cragen and I will take care of these guys!"

Spyro and Boltor run to the Manweersmalls, knocking down some Apes in their way.

Cragen gets the door off him to find two Apes coming at him screeching. "Hey, fellas!" he shouts. "Get the door!" He picks up the door and throws it at them. It impacts on the attackers causing them to fall down.

Spyro goes to one female Manweersmall who is digging with her paws and breathes Ice on the chains in order to break them.

"Who's there?" the female Manweersmall asks in fright looking at Spyro with her blind eyes.

"It's okay," Spyro assures her. "We're Dragons and we're here to rescue you."

An Ape sneaks up behind the Purple Dragon as he continues breathing on the chain and Boltor saves him firing an electrical beam at the dark soldier. When the chain is snow white, Spyro grabs a rock next to him to break it.

"Oh, thank you," the female Manweersmall praises Spyro. "Thank you."

"No problem." Spyro nods. "Go find Mole-Yare. The others will follow you."

The Manweersmall runs, sniffing for the exit. Spyro sees Boltor breaking the chains off two Manweersmalls with a big hammer in his teeth and the Manweersmalls follow the female. Boltor swings the hammer around to clobber an Ape armed with a molten sword. Spyro releases an electrical beam at an Ape after freeing another Manweersmall. Cragen spins around to wallop his spiked ball tail at an Ape who was trying to catch the runaway slaves, and stabs his horns into another. Emberor breathes Fire at more Apes coming through another tunnel.

* * *

The first section in the tunnel was all clear of Manweersmall slaves and Apes, now the team moves on to the next section Cragen leading the way by sniffing the ground. He leads them to another door to the next section. Grinning, Cragen charges at it horns lowered.

"KNOCK, KNOCK!" he bellows.

The door went flying off its hinges and impacts on a few Apes. Cragen destroys a chain holding a Manweersmall with his tail and whacks it at an Ape attacking him. Boltor kicks one soldier aside and fires Electricity at another's heart. An Ape aims his crossbow at Boltor before pulling the trigger. Boltor saw it coming. He uses his Electricity on the soaring arrow to destroy it and zapped the shooter in the process. Spyro breathes Ice on each Manweersmalls' chain and destroys them one by one. He dodges an attack from a guard and breathes Fire in his face before freeing the next Manweersmall with his Ice. Emberor takes a chain holding the rest of the prisoners and melts it with his Fire. He fires a fireball at a scarred Ape catching them. The Manweersmalls run as fast they can to find Mole-Yare.

After they saved the Manweersmalls in the second section, the Dragons and Sparx moved on to the next section, and then the next. It wasn't hard at all. Just destroy dark soldiers and free the inhabitants. Nothing more challenging. When all of the sections in the tunnel were empty, they regroup with Mole-Yare. His people are standing with him.

Mole-Yare jumps with joy. "You did it!" he laughs happily. "You did it! A thousand thanks!"

He gives each of the Dragons and Sparx a kiss. All of them groan in disgust.

"Ugghhh," Spyro groans. "It was nothing."

"No problem, pal," says Sparx keeping his distance from the leader of the Manweersmalls.

"Please don't do that again." Boltor says, wiping his face.

"Well, you fellas did your part, now I'll do mine," the Manweersmall leader says. "Your big Dragon friend is being kept in the center of the volcano where my brother, Exhumor, is working. Find him and let him know we're friends, and he'll tell you how to proceed."

"How will we know Exhumor?" asks Spyro

"Yeah," Sparx nods in agreement. "All you Man-are-we-smalls look the same to me."

"Oh," Mole-Yare laughs. "You'll know him. Trust me. He's the most cantankerous, hard-nosed, Manweersmall around. Whatever you do, don't get on his bad side."

* * *

The heroes set out to find Exhumor after Mole-Yare gives his good lucks to them. They go through a tunnel to the right taking them outside. Out in the open, they can see the volcano breathing out a lot of smoke. There is no time to waste. They must hurry. Machinery ahead of them pumps the lava to the fuel section for the fires. Two Apes hold the molten metal on the anvils with tongs and bang their hammers on them to shape them into blades.

"No more forging for these guys," says Boltor.

Boltor flies in and electrocutes the two workers. Spyro goes to the machine and melts the metal structures of it with his Fire breath. The machine makes small explosions and it sinks in the lava behind it. Ape archers appear on a tower next to the fallen machine, shooting their arrows at the Dragons. Spyro and Emberor breathe Fire at the incoming arrows to turn them into ashes. Cragen pounds his feet on the ground and a huge crack split under the tower. The tower collapses in it with the Ape archers screeching in terror. Three muscular Ape soldiers march out of the gates on the other side of the area, swinging their maces around as they move closer to them. Cragen bashes his tail on the ground and a boulder jumps up in the air. He hits it with his tail before the boulder lands and the boulder flies in the air into one of the muscular Apes. Boltor and Spyro shoot lightning bolts at the two remaining Apes. Spyro and his friends run to the gates, Cragen in the lead as he feels the earth beneath his feet to observe where they are heading. Then, they find three pathways going in opposite directions.

"Great," Sparx groans. "Now where do we go?"

"I feel like we need to split up to find Exhumor faster." Cragen says.

"What?" Boltor says glancing at the Earth Dragon in shock. "No. We stay together. Cynder may have something new to try and kill us. Who knows what it could be? If we split up, we'd be vulnerable."

"You're right, Boltor," says Spyro, "but I think splitting up is the only choice we have."

"Yeah," Sparx nods. "Besides, the volcano is gonna go ka-boom if we don't move faster."

"We'll be okay as long as we take care of ourselves." Spyro adds.

The Electric Dragon pauses for a moment clawing the ground. He looks at each of his friends and sighs, "Okay, but only this once. I just don't wanna lose you guys like we've lost the other Dragons, including our parents."

Cragen places his front foot on his shoulder and massages it."It's alright, Boltor," he tells him. "You're not gonna lose us. We'll regroup later." He points at the tunnel to the right. "You'll take this tunnel. It'll take you outside where you can fly around and see if you can find that Manweersmall," Cragen turns to the Fire Dragon and says, "Emberor, I think you should come with me," as Emberor nods in agreement, Cragen glances to the last two, "and Spyro and Sparx," he points his front foot at the left tunnel, "you guys take this tunnel. Good luck."

* * *

Spyro and Sparx move at a faster pace through the tunnel passing a stack of weapons and a row of black-colored iron armor. The tunnel leads them to a chamber where a green-colored bell hangs on a chain, from the stone structure, with a long rope dangling from the sound rim. Spyro is a bit curious about the bell.

" _What is it for?_ " he thinks.

"I bet you can't ring that bell." Sparx says.

"Why would I want to?" Spyro asks.

"Oh, prove you're not scared," the foster brother smirks.

Spyro shrugs. "I'm not scared."

"Oh, yes, you are." Sparx grins, pointing a finger at him. "The big special Dragon is scared of the mean old bell. Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry. Oh no, I'm sorry, baby."

Ignoring his brother's teasing, Spyro walks underneath the bell and pulls the rope. The clapper strikes the lip and the sound echoes in the chamber, hurting Spyro's ears. Suddenly, the chain holding the bell breaks, the bell drops. Spyro screams and the bell lands on top of him.

"Spyro!" Sparx screams, flying around the bell. "Spyro, can you hear me? Are you okay, buddy? Spyro!"

No answer came from the Purple Dragon inside the bell's mouth. Sparx's heart beats rapidly, his mind races.

"Listen," he says, "forget about those cracks I made about your fatness and you're being purple and stupid and fat, all right? Just get outta there! Please, Spyro."

Still no answer occurs.

"Come on," pleads Sparx. "Don't be dead."

Just as he is beginning to think his brother is gone, the bell begins to vibrate very fast. Sparx flies away from it and the bell explodes into shredded metal pieces with green energy waves spreading in the air. Spyro is standing in the exact same spot. Sparx has his mouth drop and eyes staring at him.

Spyro looks at Sparx, cocks an eyebrow, and asks, "Did you say something?"

"Me?" Sparx replies, recovering from the shock. "No. No, I was talking out loud, thinking of my day, and what I gotta do. Stuff like that."

"Oh," Spyro says, looking at the pieces of the bell. He and his brother leave the chamber through another tunnel. "Just thought I heard something before I blasted my way out."

"Oh, that's funny," Sparx says. "Yeah, no, must be hearing things."


	12. Chapter 11 - Sacrafice & Earth Training

Chapter 11

Sacrifice and Earth Training

Spyro and Sparx walk along the tunnel and turn at the next intersection, looking for Mole-Yare's brother, Exhumor. Sparx's glow lights up the darken mine tunnel. Spyro is thinking of the moment when he was at the chamber with the big bell. He did something he believed to be the power of the Earth element. It happened so quickly he did not experience it fully. What can it be like to have the power of Earth? He hopes it is not too bad.

A whistling noise came from a hole with iron bars on the wall to the left, interrupting Spyro's thinking. The sound of screeching of Apes came with it. Curious, Spyro and Sparx peek through the bars to find out what the ruckus was. A group of Apes are running around inside a big room with rail tracks. There is what appears to be a steaming locomotive resting on tracks. To Spyro, it is a strange contraption on wheels. The boiler is colored black with vents revealing flames inside and it has spikes on the side. Two exhaust pipes are above its four wheels. The front of the boiler, with two dreaded metallic tusks and horn, has the face of a monster with glowing slit eyes and a vent for a mouth. The chimney, breathing out smoke, has metallic horns on the top and spikes below them. The cowcatcher is glowing from the flames inside and has large razor sharp spikes pointed forward. The four wheels are connected to the giant leading drive wheels with rods. The coal bin is in the cab. The car behind the locomotive has two cannons on the top along with two torches. The caboose behind the car is heavily armored. The walls on the wheels are packed with spikes.

The Apes are loading up the locomotive and its cars. Six of them are loading armor and weapons inside the caboose. Three Apes are loading the cannons with cannonballs and stacking arrows next to the torches. Two Apes are dumping buckets of coal in the coal bin. A golden-haired Ape comes in from behind the locomotive. He has a burnt right arm and a purple fabricated belt. He wears a helmet that looks more like a hat. He is holding a long object in his hands. It is a half-shovel, half-ax.

"Come on, you worthless waste of flesh! Hurry it up!" the golden haired Ape yells at his troops loading up the caboose. "The volcano is right on the brink!" He sees an Ape carrying swords and axes trip and landed on the floor. The weapons fly out of his arms. The golden-haired Ape growls in frustration to see sloppy work. "Get up, you scum!" he shouts. "You wanna get blown up!?"

"No, sir," the soldier responds, picking up the weapons.

An Ape captain wearing a helmet with boar-like tusks and two spikes on the back steps in next to the golden haired Ape. "Conductor," he says, handing him a rolled up piece of parchment, "word from the general."

The Conductor takes the scroll from him and unrolls it to read the message. When he finished reading it, he throws it aside and bangs his shovel-ax on his engine to get his troops' attention.

"Finish up, lads!" he shouts and jerks his thumb at the locomotive. "We've got to hop on Steam and get going!"

"Sir, what's going on?" the Ape captain asks.

"Cynder wants us to get back to that flea-bitten Dragon," the Conductor answers. "The Earth Orb should be done already. Get back in the skies and keep the Dragons from getting anywhere near him."

"Yes, sir," the captain dips his head and leaves the room.

The Apes finish loading the caboose, loading the cannons and stacking arrows on the car, and loading the coal bin on Steam. The Conductor hops inside the cab and shovels three scoops of coal inside Steam's firebox. He pushes down a lever making Steam breathes out fire from its vent mouth. The exhaust pipes shoot flames out. The Conductor pulls a chain hanging from the outside to whistle Steam's whistle. His troops push the car and caboose towards Steam. The hooks on them latch on to each other. The Apes hop on Steam's car and caboose holding on tight on their handle bars.

"Let's go, Steam!" the Conductor shouts, setting aside his weapon and pulling a big lever in front of him that controls the brake.

With another puff of fire out of the vent mouth, Steam chugs forward on the rail track to the exit. The Apes hoot wildly pounding their chests while riding on it.

Spyro glances at his brother and says. "Come on, Sparx. Let's hurry."

* * *

As the two brothers run through the tunnels, they see Emberor and Cragen up ahead.

"Hey, Emberor, Cragen!" Spyro calls, he and his brother catching up to them. "Over here!"

Emberor and Cragen turn around to see them.

"Oh," says Cragen. "I wasn't expecting this."

"Emberor, Cragen," Sparx shouts with joy arms in the air. "I really miss ya!"

"Yes, yes," says Emberor impatiently. "Let's all stay focus. Did you guys find Exhumor?"

Spyro and Sparx shake their heads and the Fire Dragon slaps his front foot on his face in frustration.

"Where could he be?" Emberor groans.

"Guys, there's something you should know," Spyro explains. "We overheard from a golden-haired Ape leader that he was going to Terrador to get the Orb."

"A golden-haired Ape?" Emberor says, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Spyro nods. "He's called the Conductor and he was riding this weird machine riding on rails. It's packed with weapons and cannons."

"Oh, wow." Cragen says. "We gotta find Exhumor fast."

"That's not all," Spyro continues. "I think I used the element of Earth."

Cragen stares at him. "You did?" he asks. "Now, that is what I was expecting. Terrador will teach you everything he taught me."

Sparx narrows his eyes at a Manweersmall behind Cragen and Emberor, as Spyro agree with the Earth Dragon. He has a white dangled mustache, wearing a blue hat with a feather.

"Hey, is that him?" Sparx asks, pointing his finger at the Manweersmall.

The Dragons look at where Sparx is pointing. They walk cautiously up to the Manweersmall to see if he is Exhumor, remembering Mole-Yare telling them not to get on his bad side. The Manweersmall makes a quick glance to the right and aims his walking stick blindly at them before Spyro could speak.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Spyro shouts in panic. "We're on your side!"

"More likely spies for the Conductor or that flying beast, Cynder!" the Manweersmall growls in a type of French accent.

"Mole-Yare sent us!" Spyro tells him quickly before he attacks.

The Manweersmall's anger vanishes when Spyro mentioned the name. He lowers his stick to the earth floor.

"My brother is alive?" he stutters.

"He sure is, pal," Sparx nods, arms crossed. "He's all safe and sound. But I gotta say he's the friendly one in the family."

"You must be Exhumor, then." Cragen says.

The Manweersmall with the blue hat nods, replying, "I am. I'm sorry for trying to attack you. In these dark times, one can't take chances. So, Mole-Yare is alive," he adds, laughing happily, "wonderful news. But why did he send all of you here?"

"Well, he said you might be able to tell us where our friend, Terrador, is." Spyro says.

"If he's a big Dragon, I certainly can." Exhumor says.

He turns around to walk out of the tunnel and the Dragons follow. He gestures his staff ahead of him and the group sees the entire labor camp of Manweersmalls in chains digging into the earth floor around lava pools. One Ape guard whips his whip at one of them who is resting from his hardworking.

Exhumor says, "The majority of the Manweersmalls are kept here in this camp, forced to live above ground and mine for the metals for Cynder. There are rumors that your Dragon friend is being kept somewhere inside, in the darkest pits of the volcano. All of us are doomed."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," the Purple Dragon boldly says and the Fire and Earth Dragon nod in agreement.

"What do you mean?" Exhumor asks.

"Yeah," Sparx asks bewilderingly, "what do you mean?"

Spyro looks ahead at the camp, eyes crossed, "I mean we're going to free the Manweersmalls, venture to the dark pits of Boyzitbig, and find Terrador."

"Then, it's off to karaoke." Sparx utters sarcastically.

The Dragons go forth to the slave camp, leaving Sparx behind with Exhumor. Spyro rams into a leg of an Ape guard wearing a three quarter iron helmet and freezes another guard coming at him with his Ice breath. He uses it again on the chains holding a group of Manweersmalls together and breaks it. The Manweersmalls run for their lives as they sniff the air to find their way to safety. A big Ape with a long gray lengthen beard aims a molten axe at Spyro as he charges at him bellowing. Spyro is about to fight as Boltor swoops in out of nowhere to gash his claws into the Ape's eyes. The Ape screams loud with his hands over them. He blindly switches directions and crashes into an earth wall.

Spyro looks up at the Electric Dragon hovering in the air. "Thanks a lot, Boltor," he tells him, "nice to see you again."

"Likewise," Boltor nods. "You guys found Exhumor?"

"We did. Let's get rid of these Apes and save the Manweersmalls."

Far from the two Dragons, Cragen wallops his tale on the ground to make a boulder shoot up in the air. He hits it as it comes down in front of him and it impacts into a muscular Ape. The muscular Ape walks backwards feeling dizzy and knocks over a lava smelting machine. The machine falls into a lava pit.

Emberor melts the lock holding two chains that are holding the other Manweersmalls with his blazing Fire. Dreadwings appear in the sky to attack the Dragons. The leading Dreadwing is being ridden by the Ape captain with the tusked helmet armed with a long spear.

Cragen takes off in the air and flies towards the Dreadwings. Cragen tucks himself into a ball and impacts into a few, sending them to the floor.

Boltor flies up and electrocutes one Dreadwing with his Electricity. The Ape captain commands his Dreadwing to attack Boltor. His Dreadwing catches Boltor with its feet. Emberor notices after he breaks the chains off of a Manweersmall and releases Fire from his mouth at the Dreadwing. The Dreadwing screeches in pain and falls to the ground, letting go of Boltor. The Ape captain jumps off his ride and points his spear at the young Fire Dragon. Emberor waves one of his red wings at the spear and the flames on it lit the weapon on fire. It burns to ashes and the Ape captain is defenseless. Emberor whips his tale to trip him and burns him alive.

* * *

All the Manweersmalls are saved from the cruelty of the Apes. The Dragons run back to the tunnels to join with Exhumor and Sparx. Mole-Yare is with them.

"Look guys," Sparx calls, "these two crazy kids found each other!"

"Yes," Mole-Yare jumps with glee, "at last, thanks to you!"

"We're just disappointed you didn't leave any fun for us." Exhumor says.

"Maybe next time," Spyro tells the Manweersmall with the blue hat, chuckling. "Now which way to Terrador?"

Exhumor points his finger at an iron gate with the same face as Steam's on the wall behind the Dragons on their left,"Through there. Be careful. The Conductor and his maniacal locomotive will surely be close by."

"That doesn't sound good." Boltor predicts.

"When you say be careful, does that mean don't die?" Sparx asks. "I'm trying to do that anyway."

Emberor sighs in irritably, "Yes, Sparx. He means that."

"Come, Exhumor," Mole-Yare says to his brother, "we must get all the Manweersmalls underground, where they belong."

The ground shakes beneath them. Boyzitbig must be getting close to explode.

"Yes," Exhumor nods in agreement, "it won't be long now."

"Good luck to all of you, Dragons." Mole-Yare says as he dips his head to them.

"So long, guys," Boltor says, dipping his head back, "and thanks for all your help.

"Hope we'll meet again." Spyro calls when the two Manweersmall brothers depart to gather their people.

Spyro, Sparx, Cragen, Boltor, and Emberor dash to the iron gate that will take them to Terrador. Cragen headbutts the gate a few times until it budges open. It impresses Spyro to see someone hurt themselves just to open a door. Learning the element of Earth is filling his head with doubt and fear. He puts that aside for now and runs with his friends inside. Through another tunnel, they arrive at an iron platform outside with lava pools, and railroad tracks on the ground and on trestles. Boyzitbig is in sight. A green Dragon is lying unconsciously on an earth platform at the end of the platform bound in chain. The green orb floats in the air glowing brightly with a rock inside.

"There he is!" Cragen shouts in excitement, "Terrador, my master!"

"Let's be on our guard," Spyro says to his friends. "It's never this easy."

"After the last two times," Sparx utters to him, obviously, "you're not going to get an argument from me, chief."

Suddenly, an iron gate to their right burst open and the monster locomotive, Steam, chugs out on the platform towards the heroes puffing out smoke from its chimney and dragging the car and caboose along.

"Oh, here we go again," Sparx says sarcastically.

Steam stops far from the Dragons. It breathes out fire from its mouth and exhaust pipes. The Conductor and his troops reveal themselves. The troops screech wildly waving their weapons around.

"You're too late, whelplings," the Conductor growls at the Dragons as Sparx flies to a safe place. "The orb is already charged and the volcano is ready to blow. Before it does, me and Steam here are gonna get a pleasure in running you down!"

"Come and get us then, smoke face!" Cragen growls back.

The Conductor pulls the lever that lets Steam breathe fire out of its mouth and pulls the other lever that lets it continue onward. The locomotive chugs up a rail track trestle for higher ground. The Apes on the car aim the cannons at the Dragons and fire away. Spyro, Boltor, and Emberor get out of the way but Cragen stays where he is. He waits for the cannonballs to come and he slugs them away with his tail. Steam comes back down at full speed towards Spyro who happens to be on the track.

Spyro is quick to notice and jumps out of the way from the spikes on the cowcatcher. Five Apes from the caboose jump off with weapons. Spyro freezes the first Ape's face and kicks him aside. He flies up dodging a swinging ax attack. He comes down to bash his head on the second Ape's. The third Ape aims a bludgeon at the Purple Dragon and Spyro rolls out of the way. The Ape misses and has been electrocuted. Spyro spins around to see the fourth Ape with metal plating on his head charging at him, crooked sword pointing at him. What Spyro did not notice was that the fifth Ape is behind him preparing to strike him with his shredded sword. Boltor comes in to rescue his friend. He fires a lightning bolt at the Ape and he falls to the ground. Spyro back kicks the charging Ape and burns him alive. Once the troops have been taken care of, the Dragons commence their attack on the locomotive.

Terrador opens his green eyes waking up from the all the noise. He sees the Dragons...including the Purple Dragon fighting the Conductor. He smiles not just because the older Dragons were alright but Spyro had survived.

The Conductor pulls on a knob on Steam to increase speed. Steam goes higher up on the trestles. The Dragons take off in the air and fly to the driver. Two Apes on the car aim their cannons at the enemy while the rest pick up arrows from the stacks and load them on their bows. The arrows' tips are soaked in oil. The Apes light them on fire with the torches and fire them at the flying Dragons. The Dragons evade the soaring arrows and cannonballs. Emberor fires a fireball at one archer after dodging another arrow from him. Boltor fires a lightning bolt at an Ape with one of the cannons and another Ape takes his place.

"I'm going in!" Spyro tells his friends.

"We're right behind you!" Emberor replies.

Spyro dives towards the caboose while dodging the attacks. Emberor fires another fireball at an archer before he could launch his arrow. Spyro lands on the caboose and ducks as the flaming arrows fly at him. A hatch pops open at the end of the caboose and an Ape comes out with an ax. He charges at Spyro bellowing with his weapon aiming. Spyro shoots a fireball at him and the Ape is flown off. More flaming arrows have been fired from the car causing Spyro to duck. More Apes come out of the caboose. Their weapons glint from the brightness from the lava. Cragen swoops in and aims his horns at the hooks on the car and caboose.

"Spyro," he shouts, "get on the car!"

Spyro glances at him gliding to the hooks. He got up and runs to the car. The Apes fire more arrows and cannonballs. Spyro dodges them as he keeps going and they hit some of the Apes behind him. He jumps on the car covering his head with his legs and wings just in time for Cragen to bash his head on the connecting hooks. The caboose is detached and it flies off the trestle track with Apes screeching. They land in one of the lava pools where they burn and sink. Spyro lifts his head up to see a cannon in front of his face. He rolls out of the way and the cannon fires at the edge of the car. The Ape archers throw their bows aside to draw weapons. Spyro swipes his tail at an Ape's leg who took out a knife to trip him and electrocutes another with a mace. Boltor and Emberor fly in front of Steam to aid their friend. The Conductor notices.

"Oh, no you don't." he growls menacingly.

The Conductor turns to a two small levers. He pushes one down making the chimney tip forward. He turns the lever to the right and the chimney turns left at the two Dragons. He pulls on the second lever and cannonballs shoot out from the chimney.

"Whoa!" Emberor exclaims.

"Yipe!" Boltor exclaims.

Emberor and Boltor scatter and the cannonballs fall to the ground. Cragen comes in front of the locomotive with a sly grin.

"My turn," he says to himself.

More cannonballs fire from the chimney but Cragen keeps flying towards the Conductor and Steam. He always knows what he is doing. He hits one cannonball away and hits the other two back at Steam's chimney. The balls went inside and damage the launcher in it. Spyro takes out an Ape who drew out his war hammer. He glances at an Ape aiming one of the cannons at him. He jumps aside and the cannonball went pass him knocking the Ape with the second cannon off the car instead. During flight, Boltor pushes the Ape off the car.

Only one Ape remains on Steam; the Conductor. The Conductor roars in anger taking out his shovel-ax. He jumps off Steam and on to the car. He swings his weapon at Boltor's head to slice it off but Boltor ducks then back kicks him on the chest. The Conductor is pushed back to the edge of the car. He charges again having Boltor grips his weapon with front feet to push him back. The golden haired Ape let out a shout of effort and throws the Electric Dragon off the car. Spyro fires Electricity at him and the Conductor uses his weapon to shield himself. He brings his shovel-ax down on the Purple Dragon's head. Spyro jumps back from the blade and jumps on the Conductor. The Conductor struggles to keep his balance as his metal helmet hat falls off his head. The weight on Spyro drives him to the edge of the car and they both fall off. They land underneath one of the trestles in the middle of the platform. Steam keeps chugging on without its driver coming down a ramp. Emberor, Cragen, and Boltor join Spyro to finish off the Ape. Boltor tail whips the Conductor and the Conductor shields himself again with his shovel-ax. Emberor was about to breathe Fire on him once the golden haired Ape was distracted but the Conductor kicks him in the face. Spyro charges forward to ram into his stomach and the Conductor whacks him away with a swing of his arm. Spyro skids on the ground and comes to a stop nearly bumping his head on a trestle. His gaze is set on the track above him. The sound of Steam's whistle made Spyro turn his gaze at it chugging around. He looks back at the trestle again and then, an idea pops in his head. He glances at Steam chugging to a ramp that will lead it to where Spyro is. With no time to waste, Spyro breathes Ice on the trestle. The structures rapidly turn snow white and crackle. Cragen swings his tail to deflect the Conductor's attack. He releases a green energy beam to push him back. Emberor breathes Fire on his left arm. The Conductor screeches in pain clutching it. Boltor kicks him in the mouth to him back even further. Finally, Spyro sweeps his tail at his legs to bring the Ape down when he was close enough to him. He glances at Steam chugging up the ramp getting close to the frozen trestle.

"Guys!" Spyro calls to his friends. "Let's get out of the way!"

The Dragons look at him in confusion as he runs but they found out what is going to happen when they see the frozen trestle and Steam. They follow him as the golden-haired Ape lifts his head to find out what is happening. Steam nears the spot and the trestle breaks apart. The Conductor looks up to see his locomotive falling from the broken down railing down to him. His eyes grew wide.

"Oh, sh…" he began to exclaim.

Steam lands on its driver the spikes on its cow catcher stabbing him. The car is detached from Steam landing on the rubble. Then, the locomotive explodes in a fiery inferno. Metal pieces fly off the boiler. Flames start burning away the oil that had been sprayed over. A leading drive wheel rolls away from the mess and falls into one of the lava pools.

"Wow," says Emberor enjoying the scene.

Cragen nudges Spyro with his shoulder and says, "Way to end a fight, bud."

Spyro grins at him and Sparx comes in to lightly punch in the cheek.

* * *

Cragen rushes to Terrador and uses the strength of his jaws to break the chains. Boltor takes the orb away from the Guardian of Earth. Terrador stands up on his feet grunting under all the fatigue. When he sees the Dragons, a smile appears on his face.

"Emberor, Boltor, Cragen," he began. "I never doubted I would see you both again. Are the others alright?"

"Zeph, Aquadus, Groverge, and Ignitus are okay," Boltor answers, "and Volteer and Cyril have been rescued." Solemnly, he puts in. "Whisperav, unfortunately, didn't make it."

Terrador lowers his head in sadness and sighs heavily. He looks at the young Dragons again. "How is Zephyrav?" he asks them.

"She's alright," Cragen says. "It took her a while to let her go."

Terrador replies with a nod and then he has his surprised gaze fix on Spyro. Spyro comes in and stands between Cragen and Boltor.

"The Purple Dragon lives," Terrador says.

"He's got a name you know." Sparx flies in next to him.

"Yes," the Purple Dragon nods, "my name is Spyro."

"I must say," the Dragon Guardian of Earth utters smiling, "I never thought I'd live to meet you, Spyro."

"Hey, look," Sparx cuts in, "I'd love to sit here, hug everybody, and chit-chat but how 'bout we leave before the volcano blows us up."

"Yeah, we don't have much time left, Terrador." says Cragen, agreeing with the yellow Glowing Dragonfly.

"You're right." Terrador nods. "I've got to tell you and the others what Cynder is up to."

"Let's go, then!" Sparx hollers. "I'm right behind you." He stops to check his surroundings and corrects himself, "Actually, I'm right in front of you."

As the Dragons turn around and prepare themselves to fly, an adult black Dragoness is standing right in front of them next to the fallen locomotive.

"You are not going anywhere," Cynder grins evilly.

Spyro lets out a deep gasp. He had seen the Dark Master's loyal servant back at Tall Plains. Now, up close, she looks more terrifying.

"S-S-So b-b-big," stutters Sparx, staring at Cynder.

Cynder gazes at the young Purple Dragon and her eyes gleam in satisfaction, "Well, well, well, the Purple Dragon. Finally, we meet."

Spyro backs away from Cynder. Fear is driving him crazy, not letting him think.

"Get out of here, Cynder!" Emberor shouts ferociously.

"What can you possibly do to harm me?" chuckles Cynder. "I sentence Malefor's enemies to death for him…very simple."

Terrador steps in front of the young Dragons facing Cynder, wings spread out and legs in a stabled stance.

"Run," the Guardian hollers, "all of you! Leave her to me!"

"When the guy says run, I think he knows something." Sparx says to Spyro.

Cynder spots the glowing Earth Orb in Boltor's front feet.

"That orb belongs to me!" she shouts at him.

Boltor starts to fly away. Cynder fires a violet electrical beam at him. Boltor dodges it and when he did the orb slips out of his grip.

"Ah, no!" Boltor exclaims.

Cynder catches it with her metal claws as it was coming down to her. She stares at the orb to see it is fully charged. Terrador charges at the black Dragoness and Cynder whacks the Guardian of Earth in the face with her tale blade. Terrador falls back to the young Dragons, blood trickling from the cut below his left eye. He releases a green energy beam, like Cragen had been doing, at Cynder pushing her back.

"Go," he orders the young warriors, "fly!" To the Purple Dragon, he adds, "Spyro, fly like you've never flown before!"

Cynder changes her target from Terrador to Spyro. She needs to kill him so nothing can stand in Malefor's way. The young Dragons start flying upwards.

"Your little fools won't get away from me!" Cynder tells Terrador.

Terrador releases the green energy beam again at her and Cynder fires Dark Electricity, together, they collide. Cynder's power pushes forward towards Terrador. He struggles to keep it away but it is too strong. When it gets close enough, the collision explodes and Terrador is blown to the walls. Cynder flies after the Purple Dragon.

Spyro and his friends are out of Munitions Forge. Just in time, the volcano explodes. Lots and lots of lava cover the entire island destroying the forging machines and carts on the railings. Spyro looks back hoping the Dragon Guardian is behind them. Once he sees a Dragon flying after them, his heart lifts. But as the flying Dragon gets closer and he sees it is Cynder, his heart drops.

"Guys," Spyro shouts, "she's right behind us!"

The others look back and they flap their wings faster. Cynder locks her glaring eyes on the Purple Dragon getting closer to him. Spyro flaps his wings harder to go even faster only to find that it is not working. Cynder tries catching him with her claws and Spyro does his best to dodge. Emberor shoots a fireball at Cynder and she uses the iron blade on her tale to slugger it away with an angry bellow. Then, her metal claws finally grasp Spyro fully. Spyro tried his best to get out of it. Emberor, Boltor, and Cragen fly to his aid but Cynder swings her tail across, deflecting them. Now that they are taken care of, she can get on with her duty. She brings her enemy close to her face and Spyro stares into her white gleaming eyes.

"Now," Cynder says, "your end has come."

She opens her mouth and violet light grew bright inside. Spyro braces himself looking away. Suddenly, a fireball comes in to hit Cynder on the back, causing her to let Spyro go.

She grunts in pain and turns around to the direction from where the fireball came from, demanding, "Who did that?"

A red scaled Dragon hovers in front of Cynder with eyes glaring.

"I did." I tell her.

"Ignitus," Cynder softly says, her eyes glow, "Dragon Guardian of Fire. Glad you decided to show up."

I attack Cynder and Cynder slashes her claws on my face. I clobber her head with my foot and whip my tale at her chest. Cynder embraced me with her wings and we plunder down. We hit the ground on a small island. I got up and whip my tail at her. She catches it with her mouth, biting down really hard and I grunt in pain. Cynder throws me aside and I skid close to the shore. As I stand to fight some more, Cynder shoots Dark Electricity at me. It impacted on me and I feel paralyzed, unable to stand much longer. I collapse, my legs growing numb and Cynder places her foot on my head grinning evilly in satisfaction.

"Ignitus!" Spyro shouts in shock.

Terrador flies in, joining with Spyro along with Sparx, Cragen, Boltor, and Emberor. They spot me captured by the loyal servant.

"We've got to save him," says Spyro, glancing at his friends.

"I don't think we can, Spyro," Sparx states hopelessly, massaging the back of his neck. "There's nothing we can do."

"I don't care!" Spyro shouts in anger. "Ignitus wouldn't leave me behind!"

"Spyro, he's right." Terrador says.

"I'm right?" Sparx asks in surprise. "Oh, my god, that's a first."

"All we can do is go back to the Dragon Temple and come up with a plan." Cragen says, agreeing to Sparx and his master.

"No!" Spyro disagrees, shaking his head in frustration. "I'm going to help Ignitus!"

He is about to fly down to me only to have Terrador using his claws to block his way. The Purple Dragon looks at him and the elder Dragon utters steadily, "You're not ready to face Cynder. The time to fight will come but it is not now."

Spyro looks at me again. Dreadwings fly in and bind me in chains like they did to the other Guardians and Cynder hands the Earth Orb to one of the flying creatures to hold with its feet. In his heart, Spyro wants to help me as I have helped him discover who he was. I am more than a teacher to him, I was a friend. He glances at Terrador and his friends who are waiting for him to be convinced.

"I guess you're right," Spyro admits solemnly, his head lowers. "Let's go."

With it settled, they all fly back to the Dragon Temple. Spyro has never felt so sick before.

* * *

"It's all my fault," Spyro says out-loud. "I failed Ignitus when he needed me most."

Spyro and the others had returned at the Dragon Temple. Terrador explained to Cyril, Volteer, Groverge, Zephyrav, and Aquadus at the Pool of Visions everything that had happened back at Munitions Forge. They were shocked to hear the black Dragoness had captured me.

Bad had turned to worse. Cynder has the Earth Orb from Terrador but now she has me to create the last one she needs to activate the portal. Spyro takes this all out on himself for not doing anything. Zephyrav places her front foot on his for comfort.

"You did the right thing," Cyril comforts him. "There was nothing you could do."

"Spyro, Ignitus saw in the Pool you were going to die. So he got himself captured to save you." Aquadus tells him. "Don't blame yourself."

"I do blame myself, Aquadus!" Spyro snaps. "The sight of Cynder so close just…just…"

"What," asks Sparx, moves in front of his brother, "made your heart stop? Put ice in your veins? Scared the crud out of you?"

Spyro nods, "Yeah, something like that."

"All warriors feel fear at one time or another, Spyro," Terrador explains to the Purple Dragon as he walks over from Cyril to him. "There is no shame in that."

"Yes," says Volteer, "it's a proven scientific fact that the quotient between adrenaline and trepidation-"

"Volteer, please," Cyril interrupts. "I believe our good friend here was trying to make a point."

"Thank you, Cyril," the Guardian of Earth dips his head to the Guardian of Ice. He glances at the Purple Dragon and continues, "What I was going to say is that all warriors feel fear, Spyro, but only the most valiant among them can face that fear and master it. From what I heard from Emberor, Boltor, and Cragen you fought to save those Manweersmalls and from what I saw in your fight against the Conductor back at Munitions Forge, you are one such warrior."

Then, Terrador walks to the doors leading to the room of the Dragon Ancestor statue, the Training Room.

"Young Dragon," he says, "now is the time to complete your training…now is the time to face your fear. Come."

Spyro follows Terrador, leaving Sparx frozen and staring after him.

"Am I the only one still petrified," he wonders out-loud.

The doors behind Spyro close. The statue and the flower beds were already lowered. There are small and big rocks everywhere in the room.

"Terrador, where did these come from?" asks Spyro.

"My old apprentice, Cragen, brought them all in here before coming to the Pool of Visions." Terrador explains. "He told me the element of Earth had come to you. I needed him to get as much as he could in order for me to train you."

When Spyro stands in the center, his Earth training begins.

"The way to use the element of Earth…is to use the unimaginable strength beyond yours," says Terrador. "It can be found in every muscle in your body. In order to unlock that strength, you will need to feel the density of the earth with your feet. Once you felt it, your own strength will match it. . Now, are you ready?"

"Yes, Terrador," Spyro replies, "I'm ready."

"Spread your legs apart," the Guardian instructs and Spyro commands. "Now, take a moment to feel the floor with your feet."

Spyro closes his eyes and breathes softly. The earth beneath him feels normal at first until then, he can sense the thickness of it going deep down. It is so thick it can withstand a battering ram if it was a gate. Then, a surge of energy flows through his body into his head, making his ears ring. He opens his eyes to the strange feeling.

"How do you feel?" asks Terrador.

"I don't know. I feel like my muscles have grown very big." Spyro replies, flexing his legs.

Terrador picks up a small rock and places it in front of Spyro.

"Try crushing this," he suggests.

The Purple Dragon hesitates while looking at the rock lying there. After all he had seen Cragen demonstrating his techniques of Earth powers, he is anxious of hurting himself again. He looks at Terrador and his teacher nods, urging him gently to do it. Spyro takes a deep breath and aims his right foot on top of the little rock. He brings it down hard and the rock crushes into fragments. Spyro is amaze it really worked.

"Yes," says Terrador, smiling, "wonderful, Spyro. You have the strength of the earth." Spyro smiles back feeling confident once again as Terrador continues, "Do it again, in different ways. Think of them on your own."

So excited, Spyro whip his tale at a rock and the rock crushes into pieces. He stands on the flat side on a big rock and stomps on it with his back legs. A rock shoots out behind him and lands on another rock breaking it in half.

"Wow!" exclaims Spyro. "That was the move Cragen did."

Spyro jumps off and uses his head on a boulder to break it into little pieces. He, absolutely, did not feel a thing.

"Keep going," Terrador tells him, in appreciation, "But don't get too excited or you'll crush the stone floor."

"Okay. Got it," Spyro nods.

After Spyro was done breaking rocks, he is ready for the next step. Terrador pushes three boulders in front of Spyro.

"Now you know how to crush solid rocks with your body," he says, moving from the boulders to a place next to Spyro, "you will now know how to use your Earth Shot to crush them. The Earth Shot breath is the green energy beam that comes from the muscles of your throat. It is able to shatter earth structures and blow enemies away." He jerks his head at the boulders. "Try using it to shatter these three boulders. Inhale from the nose sharply and exhale from the mouth sharply. Be careful, if you inhale sharply too hard, the muscles in your throat will be damaged. It would take a matter of hours to heal. Are you ready?"

Spyro nods and Terrador gets out of the way. Spyro spreads his feet apart and inhales sharply from the nose and exhales sharply from the mouth. A beam of green energy shoots out from his mouth and destroys the middle boulder.

"Good!" acknowledges Terrador. "That's the spirit. Again."

Spyro uses the Earth Shot and his newly found courage to destroy the second boulder and the last boulder.

* * *

Spyro's Earth training is complete. Terrador takes him back to the Pool of Visions. All the Dragons are pleased with his progress.

"Feels good to be strong like the earth, doesn't it, Spyro," grunts Cragen.

The Purple Dragon nods in agreement. "Yeah, it is."

"Sooner or later, I'm gonna call you Rocky," says Sparx. "You rock."

Cragen laugh hysterically while Spyro shakes his head in amusement.

"You've done well, young Dragon," says Terrador.

"I think you're ready for anything now you have four elements," says Groverge triumphantly.

"Cynder will not stand a chance." Aquadus joins in.

"Yes, yes," Cyril interrupts impatiently, "pat on the back, good going, all that other rubbish, but we've got to get moving here."

"Oh!" groans Volteer. "Cyril is terribly obnoxious but in this case he happens to be right, Terrador. Ignitus is the final piece to Cynder's puzzle. If that last orb is powered up, the portal will be able to open and we'll all be done for."

"I know," Terrador agrees, nodding. "I know. Here's what I have to tell you all. When I was on Munitions Forge, I overheard the Conductor say Cynder's final preparations would take place at her fortress where she lives in solitude among the clouds and the towers." To Spyro, he explains, "Cynder is in Concurrent Skies where hope goes to die, Spyro. A dark foreboding place, in which Cynder broods, skulks and plans her next assault. You must make your way to her fortress where I'm certain Ignitus is being held."

"So, who will come with me and Sparx?" asks Spyro.

"Spyro, my boy," Cyril speaks humbly. "I would bring ALL of the young Dragons with you. All of you together will be stronger."

The Purple Dragon, the masters, and apprentice exchange exciting glances. Spyro had been waiting to work with all of his friends ever since he saw them fighting the Apes in the Temple.

"Cool!" says Sparx, excitedly. "All six of the guys!"

Spyro turns to his Earth teacher in wonder, "You're coming with us, aren't you, Terrador?"

"I'd give anything to go with you, young warrior," says Terrador in deep regret, "but that orb sapped the last of my strength. I fear my fighting days are over."

"Every generation must pass the torch to the next, Terrador. Our time is done," says Volteer.

"Yes," the Guardian of Ice says proudly, agreeing with the Guardian of Electricity, and gazing at young warriors, "it is their time to shine. Now go to it, young Dragons!"

"Yes sir," says Spyro.

"We won't let you down!" Boltor promises.

"Let's move!" hollers Aquadus.

All of the young Dragons run out of the room to the platform outside and together they fly to Concurrent Skies to stop Cynder and rescue me.

"Wow," Sparx enthusiastically says to himself, "those guys back there made even me wanna face Cynder." To Spyro, he asks, "Did I say that out loud?

* * *

 **We are now approaching the last three chapters! Hope you all are excited! I will see you next time!**


	13. Chapter 12 - The Origin of Cynder

**Thank you so much for your patience. Here are the last chapters of my story. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 12

The Origin of Cynder

Spyro, Sparx, Aquadus, Emberor, Zephyrav, Groverge, Boltor, and Cragen have arrived in Concurrent Skies outside of Cynder's fortress. They land on the ground outside the fortress walls so no one will see them coming. Blue crystals stick out of the dark ground glowing. Spyro believes they are Spirit Gems but he does not want to find out while on an important mission. Lightning strikes light the skies of the place. Though Spyro is trying to be brave, fear still courses in his veins.

"Next time I say that I want to face Cynder, why don't you go ahead and punch me in the mouth." Sparx suggests.

Spyro chuckles softly, "No problem."

The Purple Dragon has the fortress wall in sight. Apes are patrolling on top of it. One of them is riding a giant snail creature carrying a spear and a torch. Spyro was thinking of a way to get through that wall undetected when Groverge nudges him to get his attention.

"You should lead us on this one," says the Forest Dragon as the Purple Dragon glances at him.

"Huh?" Spyro asks taken by surprise. His gaze scans to everyone around him and back to his friend. "Lead you?"

Groverge nods with a smile, "Yeah. You're strong, you have a good soul, and you never give up. I owe you for helping me."

"He's right," Aquadus adds to Spyro coming to Groverge's side. "You're an inspiration to us all. To everyone, too, I'm sure."

"It would be an honor if you lead us," says Boltor coming to Spyro's other side.

"Oh, yeah," Cragen says, nodding.

"Go ahead, bud," Emberor tells him.

"Lead us, Spyro." Zephyrav echoes.

Just hearing his friends' encouragements makes the Purple Dragon feel touched and strengthen even more. He is really grateful. He stands tall in confidence inhaling the cold air and letting it out.

"Hey, Spyro," says Sparx, "I think you should lead, too, after all you're the legendary Dragon."

"Thanks, Sparx." Spyro gratefully says.

Aquadus speaks out, "So, what's your call?"

Spyro looks back at the wall and resumes working out a plan to get through. Looking at the bottom of the barrier, he suggests to his team, "Everyone, let's walk close to the walls so the guards won't see us. From there, I'll make a tunnel that will take us in on the other side."

Spyro runs to the walls, the Dragons following his lead. They walk along the very high walls avoiding the lights from the torches the Apes are holding. A loud screech occurs in the sky and the Dragons and Sparx look up to see three Dreadwings flying across the wall. Spyro continues walking against the walls until he comes to the spot he picked. He digs a hole quietly to make a tunnel. Cragen goes in next, making the hole bigger for the others. Spyro pushes his way out on the other side and shakes the dirt off his back. Cragen comes out, pushing more dirt out, and shakes the dirt off of him. Another lightning strike flashes behind the fortress towers showing stone spikes stand tall. The sight of the stronghold with a flash of lightning scares Spyro but he gets a hold of himself fast. Sparx and the other Dragons come out of the hole and move close to Spyro again. Spyro tells them to keep moving against the walls all the way to the back of the fortress. Zephyrav and Boltor keep a look out on the towers, the battlements, and the sky for any patrols. It took them a half hour to reach the rear side of the fortress and avoid getting caught by the guards. At last, they see a red Dragon on the back edge of a glass-roofed tower topped with a spire. I am inside it trapped in some kind of cage made of Dark Electricity. A spherical object floats next to me sucking up red energy waves from my body.

"There's Ignitus," whispers Emberor. "We're almost there."

"How about we make the tower sink by making an earthquake underneath it together?" Cragen suggests to the Purple Dragon.

"No, Cragen," says Spyro, shaking his head with a foot out at him. "The tower seems too strong to be sunk. We'll have to fly to the top as fast as we can even if we're spotted."

Spyro, Sparx, and the Dragons run towards the tower and then suddenly, an arrow comes in out of nowhere and strikes the ground in front of Spyro. The Ape general appears over the edge of the tower holding his bow.

"They're here!" shouts the Ape general. He whips his finger at the Dragons below. "Surround them!"

A vast wave of Ape soldiers, Death Hounds, and Dreadwings come inside the interior of the walls surrounding all of the Dragons. The soldiers growl, their weapons drawn.

"Okay," says Sparx shivering. "Maybe we should run."

"Forget it," growls Aquadus. "I'm done with all that. No more running. No more hiding."

"I will stand and fight to the death," says Groverge, standing at Aquadus's side.

"We're getting our friend back!" shouts Cragen.

Spyro steps out in front. "In that case, everyone, let's give these Apes all we've got!"

The older Dragons form a circle with their attention on the army around them. Sparx flies away to a safe place and wait for the battle to be over. Back on the tower, where I am, the Ape general throws aside his bow and takes out a battle ax with a pointed end between the blades.

He flicks it down hollering to his army, "Destroy them!"

The Apes, Death Hounds, and Dreadwings advance on the Dragons. Zephyrav, Emberor, and Boltor fly in the air while the others stay on the ground. Spyro and Cragen use their Earth Shots to blast the earth underneath the armies to make them tremble and fall. They hit the ground with their tales and two boulders fly in the air to land in front of them. They use their Earth Shots to blow them up in fragments and the fragments hit some soldiers.

Groverge breathes fire at two Death Hounds. An Ape comes in to stab him with his spear. Groverge spins around to grab the spear with his mouth and casts it away. He grabs the Ape by the wrist to throw the Ape to another Ape. He spits seeds out of his mouth that he took with him before leaving the Temple. He buries them in the ground, dodging the attacks from his enemies. Once they were planted, he digs his claws on the ground. Suddenly, plants grow tall around him. The plants whip out at the Apes and Dreadwings. The razor sharp edges on the rough leaves make cuts on the Apes. Groverge takes off to the air to dive onto a Death Hound.

Zephyrav flies pass Groverge and uses her power of Wind to blow away Ape soldiers and Death Hounds. She dodges some arrows from Ape archers. The Apes on their Dreadwings whip their reins to take off in the air and chase Zephyrav. Zephyrav sees one coming at her and flies towards it to stab her claws right in its heart. She pulls away and the flying beast falls. Two Dreadwings fly pass her and turn back for her. The Wind Dragoness spins faster making a wind funnel around her. The Dreadwings are caught in it and one crashes into the fortress walls while the other crashes into the towers. Zephyrav spins around fast again to make a tornado of wind to suck up the ground troops to throw them out of the fortress.

Emberor burns a Dreadwing in the air with his breath. He lands on the ground to shoot a ball of Fire at a Death Hound. The Death Hound screeches and runs away. A soldier comes in with a sword to attack Emberor. Emberor jumps backwards dodging the attack and flies forward at the soldier to knock him down to the ground. He burns him completely. He flies back up in the sky to inhale the air deeply. His wings light on fire. He glides down to the ground and releases a huge cloud of flame to burn Ape archers shooting at him. He shoots a fireball at the last one. When Emberor lands on the ground, he skids to spin around to make a ring of Fire to burn more of the general's troops.

Aquadus and Spyro are back to back. Boltor descends to join them. Spyro fires a fireball at a Death Hound and with the help of the earth giving more strength, he tail whips a Dreadwing trying to snatch him with its mouth. The Dreadwing flips over and its rider is crushed underneath it. Boltor finishes another Dreadwing with his electrical beam to its heart. Aquadus hovers in the air and spins around his legs straight out. Death Hounds pounce on him and their heads are scratched from Aquadus's claws. Aquadus stands on his feet and kicks an Ape soldier with a flail aside. He sprays water at a handful of Ape soldiers and Boltor shoots an electrical beam at the wet soldiers. The Ape soldiers spasm madly and fall on the ground. Aquadus sprays water at four Death Hounds, three Dreadwings, and four Apes.

"Bad guys washed." Aquadus says.

"And chilled," Spyro adds.

Spyro breathes an arctic blizzard on them to freeze them. Boltor breaks the neck of a Death Hound with his feet. Aquadus flies up and sprays water underneath him as he spins around to make a small tornado of water. He moves it towards some soldiers to suck them inside it.

"Spyro, freeze this," yells Aquadus, jumping off the tornado of water.

Spyro turns around fast and freezes it in a block of ice. Then, he glances to his right while Boltor follows his gaze and together, they shoot lightning bolts at two Dreadwings descending to them.

* * *

After their battle with the general's forces, the Dragons and Sparx, coming out of hiding, fly to the top of the tower with the glass roof. When they are on top, the general is right in front of them. He clutches his battle ax tightly as he takes out a broad sword from his scabbard on his back.

"I'll take you all out myself," he spats at them. "You can't beat me!"

He swings his ax upwards at Cragen's face and the Earth Dragon deflects it with his tale. He gives the general's stomach a headbutt, puncturing his horns into him. Zephyrav blows wind and the general is pushed back again. Spyro jumps up and kicks his back leg on his face to cause the general to be flown off the tower. He screams as he falls until his body lands on the tip of the towers spikes piercing straight through his chest.

"God," Zephyrav sighs, rolling her eyes, "he's so stupid."

The Dragons turn their attention to me in the electrical cage powering up the red Fire Orb. The Electricity, Earth, Ice, and Wind Orbs are with it. I open my eyes to see Spyro and his friends.

"Spyro…" I speak, feeling weak by the orb of Fire, "destroy the orbs…quickly!"

"Uh, guys?" says Sparx, looking around the area. "I don't like this. It feels like Cynder's baiting us. I'm getting smarter."

"Baiting us or not, we have to destroy those orbs before she gets here!" Spyro insists.

The Dragons run to the orbs but then, Cynder comes down from the sky and lands heavily in front of them. She spreads her dreaded wings out, baring her teeth at the Purple Dragon.

"If only it were that easy, little one," utters Cynder.

Zephyrav, Emberor, Cragen, Aquadus, Boltor, Groverge, and Spyro stand their ground.

"Oh, sh…" says Sparx, trembling and covers his mouth just as he was going to say it.

Cynder walks in a circle around the group, her eyes flash bright white. She keeps her eyes only on Spyro not worrying about the others. "Time you all learn how complicated life can be," she tells the young Dragons.

She stands on her back legs and shoots Dark Electricity from her mouth at the Dragons. All the Dragons are flown backwards skidding on the floor. They stop at a few inches from the edge of the tower only Emberor is too close to it sliding off. Aquadus grabs his claws with his before he fell.

"Guys, we should really go now!" yells Sparx in panic. "Let's go before she burns you!"

Without warning, Cynder grabs him and Sparx yelps in fright, struggling to get free.

Cynder brings him close to her and says, "I'm burning these Dragons, including you!"

She opens her mouth, the inside glows purple, to destroy the Glowing Dragonfly with Dark Electricity. Then, a fireball hits her head. She screams in pain covering her head. Cynder glances to Spyro facing her with glaring eyes.

"Leave my brother alone," he growls.

Emberor, Groverge, Zephyrav, Boltor, Cragen, and Aquadus stand by his side holding their angry gazes on the loyal servant.

"No matter what you do, Cynder," says Spyro, "we're not going to run like cowards. It's you and us. Let's fight!"

Laughing evilly and letting go of Sparx who flies to a safe place, Cynder faces Spyro sharpening her metal claws and tail blade on the floor. "Bring it," she rasps.

Cragen charges at Cynder and Cynder brings down a crashing blow with claws sharpened. Cragen rolls sideways to dodge the attack. He releases an Earth Shot and it hits Cynder's leg. Shaking it off, Cynder whips her tail blade at Cragen and Cragen parries the attack with his spiked ball tale. Zephyrav spins sideways making a hurricane blowing hard with wings out. Cynder stabs the floor with her claws avoiding to be blown away. While Zephyrav keeps blowing wind at her, Spyro flies inside the current of the wind to ram into her head. Cynder flicks her tale blade at Spyro giving him a scratch on the head and Spyro skids on the floor. He gets up to shoot Electricity at her and it hits her left hip. Emberor tries breathing Fire at the black Dragoness's feet to make her let go and be blown away. Before he had the chance, Cynder disappears in a black mist.

Zephyrav stops in surprise. "Whoa!" she exclaims. "Where'd she go?"

The Dragons glance around looking for her. All is quiet except for the flashing thunder. Emberor turns around and sees Cynder rapidly reappear close to him.

"Look out!" he shouts.

Cynder sweeps her tail across and the Dragons fall down. Spyro shakes his head heavily and sees Cynder inhaling from the mouth. He stands up to release an Earth Shot at her mouth. The impact makes her breathe appear to be black-colored Fire in the other direction. Aquadus stands back up and sprays Water out of his mouth at her face. Spyro breathes Ice to freeze it up. Cynder walks backwards shaking her head and bumps the four elemental orbs on the floor below the orb of Fire with her back legs. The orbs rattle around but did not scatter. Groverge runs to them now the black Dragoness is distracted. Cynder uses her front feet to break the ice off her faces and shake the bits off. She glances at Groverge about to smash orbs with his feet. She grabs his leaf tale with her mouth and throws him off the edge. Groverge screams in horror as he falls. He can't get back flying while he's flipping over. Zephyrav flies off the tower and glides down to Groverge. She catches him with both of her feet.

"Oh, thanks, Zeph," sighs Groverge in relief, looking at her. "I thought I was a goner."

"What would you do without me?" asks Zephyrav, kissing her love's head.

She flies back up to the tower and throws Groverge on the top. Groverge breathes fire at Cynder's tale and Cynder shouts in pain. She turns around to him and her head got hit by Aquadus's wings. Spyro dashes forward to knock her down, using his strength of the earth. When she is down, Spyro rushes to her head and kicks his back legs at it. The loyal servant stands on her feet swiftly and swipes her claws at Spyro. Spyro lands on his side and Groverge runs at her. Cynder shoots a black fireball at him and he falls on his back, grunting in pain. As Cragen, Aquadus, Boltor, Zephyrav, and Emberor advance on her, she fires Dark Electricity at each of them paralyzing them. They try to maintain standing and failed lying down. She moves to Spyro and holds him down with one foot. She breathes heavily, glaring at him. Spyro stares at the glowing whiteness of her eyes. Then, Spyro realizes something about her eyes. He narrows his eyes and looks at them more closely and strangely, he sees something else.

Cynder laughs evilly, "It's so sad it must end this way, isn't it, young Dragon?"

"Who are you?" Spyro wonders, staring at her again.

The loyal servant looks at him confused but does not care. She flicks him away with her claws and Spyro vanishes when he goes over the edge. The black Dragoness grins in satisfaction believing he is gone.

"Now," says Cynder, looking around, "where was I?"

A red glow shines behind her and she turns around to see the Fire Orb completely red. A spark of flame is lit inside it. It has harness enough of my energy.

"Oh, yes." Cynder says, approaching the five orbs.

She picks up one of the light-blue ones and the yellow one with her right claws, the other light-blue orb and the green orb in her left claws. She takes the red one with her mouth. Cynder crashes through the glass roof on top of the tower and flies away from her stronghold to the dark-clouded sky. Sparx comes out of hiding behind a roof structure, looking after Cynder.

"Does she ever use doors?" he wonders.

Sparx then realizes Spyro is not among the masters and apprentice.

"Spyro!" he calls, cupping his hands to his mouth.

There is no answer. He hears a grunting sound from behind. He turns to one edge of a tower and a purple foot strikes up to grasp it tightly. Spyro pokes his head up, placing another front foot on the edge. He flaps his wings to get him back on the tower. I sigh in relief to see he is still alive. Sparx zings to him. "Oh my god," he breathes, looking at the wound on Spyro's face. "Spyro, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," says Spyro, panting.

The other Dragons get back on their feet still feeling weak from Cynder's paralyzing Electricity. The Electricity cage holding me disappears and I am free. I limp to my brave Dragons to join them due to my frail legs from the drainage. I lend Emberor my foot so he can grasp it to pull himself up on his feet again. Groverge puts his head under Zephyrav's head and lifts her up. Cragen shakes himself off, his legs tremble feeling like he is falling asleep. He lifts his head up to see Spyro standing strong and eyes shifting to and fro on the floor.

"What is it, Spyro?" he asks the Purple Dragon, the other Dragons turn to him.

Spyro faces them and speaks softly, "There was something in her eyes."

"Really," says Zephyrav in interest, "what did you see?"

"Eye lashes," guesses Sparx.

"No," says Spyro. He explains as he thinks back, "At first I thought I was just seeing things. But, when Cynder pinned me down and she got close to me, I saw through the blazing whiteness quite clearly. She has emerald eyes. They were familiar."

The young Dragon warriors look at each other, wondering what it can mean.

"There should be, Spyro." I say.

All of the young Dragons turn to me.

"You and Cynder share more than you know." I tell the Purple Dragon.

"What do you mean, Ignitus?" asks Spyro lifting an eyebrow.

"You were not ready to know the truth…all of it," I say. I looked at the others. "None of you were. But now is the time."

Eyes are on me and I began,

"After I took your egg to the Silver River," I explain to Spyro. "I returned to the Nesting Chamber to find utter chaos. The Guardians and all of the young Dragon warriors had been overrun. All of the eggs in the chamber were smashed by the Dark Master's forces…all except one. You see, the Dark Master was torn. He wanted to destroy all the eggs to prevent the birth of the Purple Dragon, but he also needed a Dragon."

"Why would he need a Dragon?" asks Spyro.

"Because, Spyro, on the Year of the Dragon, Malefor and I both sensed that there was only one hatchling who can open the portal to a place called Convexity, an airlock dimension between our world and the Dark Realms beyond, which serves as his prison."

I stop, seeing the warriors are staring at me for they know whom I am talking about.

"Cynder?" the Dragons and Sparx speak in unison.

"I'm afraid so," I mutter, lowering my head.

"Now, I'm ticked off!" Groverge shouts. "Those Apes stealing an egg is cruel!"

"Wait a sec," Spyro says. "If Cynder and I were born on the same day and we came from the same place, why is she so…so…?"

"Evil," Sparx guesses, picking the right words for him, "monstrous, big, sexy?" He covers his mouth instantly. "Oops, did I just say that?"

"Because after the night of the raid," I say, "she was corrupted by Malefor's poisonous powers, twisted by his evil lore. Cynder had become his monster."

"But why?" Spyro demands bewilderingly. "What does this Dark Master want?"

"He wants to be freed from the altar in Convexity to wreak havoc across Dragon Realm and the other realms after he was defeated by the last Purple Dragon and the Dragon Guardians before us concealed him away in that altar, using their elemental energy. And if Cynder gets there, he just might succeed."

Suddenly, a surging sound gets our attention. It comes from the direction where Cynder had flown to. A bright solid circle appears in the sky and we see Cynder visibly. The circle makes a high-pitch screech and a peculiar place appears. Stars are fixed in every corner in the blue and purple void. Rubble platforms scattered around and one of them shines very bright. Cynder goes through it.

"That is the portal to Convexity she just activated," I state. "That bright light in that far off distance is the altar. I'm afraid we might be too late."

"No." Zephyrav rasps in fear.

"It can't be," says Boltor.

The others follow the three Dragons voicing their despair. But Spyro is not going to give in to despair on this one, not just now. If he runs away from this, what would happen next?

"No," he tells me without hesitation. "I refuse to give up. I'm going to stop Cynder and Malefor."

"Whoa," says Sparx, flying in front of him. "Wait you…you heard the Dragon, Spyro. He said, 'too late'. We'll get them next time." Dusting his hands off, he adds, "Come on, champ, you did a great job and let's…let's take five. You have a bad scratch on your face."

"No," Spyro says in courageous. "I'm ready. I've come so far, I've saved the Guardians and I gave everyone hope. But this does not end here, not for me." He haltingly adds, "I will not stop until this is over"

The young Dragons and I gaze upon him with pride and amazement. Who would have thought after all he had been through, he still wishes to keep going? I admire his potential.

"Okay, Spyro," I speak, "you're right."

The Dragons agree with me.

"Very persistent, you are," says Aquadus.

"Good luck out there, Spyro," says Zephyrav. "I hope for your safe return."

"You'll do wonderfully," says Groverge, standing next to the Wind Dragoness.

"Go get some," growls Cragen encouragingly.

Spyro makes a curt nod to all of them his face filled with complete confidence.

"Can't I come," asks Sparx. "I want to see you confront Cynder again. Plus, I still belong with you, ya know."

"That's true, Sparx," nods Spyro. "You'll come but promise me you'll keep out of danger like you usually do."

"I will," his foster brother gives him his word, crossing his heart.

Spyro flaps his wings to hover in the air.

"I should tell you something before you go, Spyro." I say in warning. "At the very least, you have to try and stop Cynder before she inserts all the five orbs in the altar, freeing Malefor. If he escapes, a shadow will fall over the land and who knows what will happen then."

"I understand," Spyro dips his head. "Come on, Sparx."

Spyro takes off in the air to the sky towards the portal, Sparx following.

I murmur my good luck to him just like I did before when he was a small egg, "May the Ancestors look after you, Spyro, may they look after us all."

* * *

 **The final battle approaches!**


	14. Chapter 13 - Convexity

**The final battle will now begin!**

* * *

Chapter 13

Convexity

Spyro and Sparx go through the portal of Convexity and they landed on one of the platforms fixed in the void ten yards away from it.

The Purple Dragon looks ahead and sees Cynder already at the altar, at the very center of the airlock dimension, preparing to insert the five elemental orbs from the Dragon Guardians onto it. Jellyfish-like inhabitants with glowing heads and claws underneath float around the void making eerie noises. Eel-like inhabitants fly across the place with their glowing tails making energy pulsations. Unexpectedly, a moaning whale-like inhabitant flies by Spyro and his foster brother. It has blue spikes underneath its chin, four blue tentacles hung back, and orange eyes glow looking at nothing. Its moans either sound like it is sad or perhaps dying in agony.

Sparx shivers in fright from the creature. "Now…I've seen everything," he says.

"Yeah, if we don't hurry, I have a feeling you're going to see a whole lot more," says Spyro irritably. "Come on."

Spyro jumps from one platform to the other towards the altar. The sounds from the creatures are making feel uneasy. He comes to a group of platforms that leads him the way up. He climbs them one platform at a time. But it is such a long way his heart begins to beat hard and his legs are starting to give way. He shakes his skull when he was getting light-headed. He could feel the density of each earth platform which he uses to build up more strength and keep up the pace. He makes it to the top with two moaning whale-like inhabitants flying past him. The altar is in sight on the biggest platform in the middle of Convexity, one mile from here.

The altar is an extruded-pentagonal-shaped colored black. Two horns stick out on top of the five edges. The biggest one sticks out of the top. Five egg-shaped energy fields gleam one on each side of it. Five flights of stairs rest in front of the energy fields with their railings packed with spikes. Underneath the platform is the altar's needle-like base. Two purple colored beams of light shoot out from above and below the platform.

Spyro immediately spots Cynder carrying the Ice Orb in her claws and the Fire Orb in her mouth to one of the pillars above the energy field. The other orbs were no longer in her possession. Spyro guesses they are on the other three pillars behind the altar. He and Sparx glide down from the platform and he lands on one of the jellyfish creatures below them. Its head feels so squishy and cold. Spyro hops off from it to land on a leveled group of platforms. An eel creature flies past them its tail pulsating. As they are getting closer to the middle, Spyro hears a deep, distorted, menacing voice.

"Spyro…" the voice whispers. "Spyro…"

Spyro stops running and glances to his every surrounding to see who is speaking to him.

"Okay, that's creepy," Spyro states.

"What?" asks Sparx, "what's creepy? I know the ones we're seeing are far more than creepy."

Spyro glances at Sparx, confused to why he asked.

"Don't you hear it? That voice calling my name. It's loud enough for you to hear."

"Spyro…Spyro…" the voice echoes.

"There it is again," Spyro jumps in surprise. He looks at Sparx and asks, "You heard it, didn't you?"

"No," says Sparx slowly. "Course I don't hear anything. Are you hearing things again? I know you need a bit more sleep."

Why can Sparx not hear it? Spyro was about to urge him not to fool around but he reminds himself not to worry about it and continue with the pace.

After jumping from platform to platform and creature to creature, the two of them have reached the altar. Cynder moves to one side of the altar, the Fire Orb in her mouth. She had already place the Ice Orb on the pillar above the energy field Spyro can see. Cynder takes the Fire Orb out of her mouth and places it above the fifth energy field.

"My master returns," she murmurs, smiling in pleasure.

The purple beams above and below the platform glow brightly.

"We're too late!" Spyro yells out loud.

Cynder glances behind her to see the Purple Dragon still alive from their last battle. Her head burns in anger.

"Hmmmm!" says the loyal servant, glaring at him. "Persistent little fella, aren't you?"

Spyro gets in his fighting stance ready to fight. He can see the emerald irises behind the glowing whiteness of her eyes again. At this moment, he wonders if there is a possible way he could free her from Malefor's dark influence. He wonders if this could be his only chance to bring her back, turn her back the way she used to be. It is a risk he has to make. He glances at Sparx and Sparx makes a curt nod before flying away from the altar.

"This is where it really ends," Cynder says to Spyro, spreading her dreaded red wings.

"Bring it," Spyro taunts her.

"No mercy this time," growls Cynder.

Above them, Sparx shields his eyes and turns the other way.

"I can't watch this." Sparx says to himself.

Cynder shoots Dark Electricity at Spyro. Spyro shoots Electricity to collide with hers. Cynder pushes the impact to Spyro and Spyro pushes it back to Cynder. Cynder pushes the impact back harder to Spyro and Spyro is blasted out off the platform. He flaps his wings to fly in the air and inhales the air to charge his Fire breath. He flies back to Cynder and releases Fire on her. Cynder jumps backwards dodging the attack. She aims her metal claws on her front foot at Spyro. Spyro makes a barrel roll to avoid the attack. Cynder tries to catch him with her mouth. When Spyro is almost caught by Cynder's mouth, he kicks her snout with his back legs. He flies back into the air with Cynder flies after him. She shoots black fireballs at him and Spyro uses his Earth Shot to deflect them in another direction. Spyro flies to one platform and tucks himself into a ball to crash into it. The platform blasts into big fragments. He throws one at Cynder and Cynder breaks it a part with her tail blade. Spyro throws two more at her and Cynder destroys them both with her claws. Spyro then lands on a platform and blows out Ice to freeze her. The black Dragoness breathes Black Fire to evaporate the icy breeze. She swipes Spyro off the platform. Spyro flies back in the air and goes back to tackle Cynder. Cynder makes another swipe at Spyro and Spyro dodges it. He rams into her chest and she grunts in pain. Spyro then somersaults to hit her chin and Cynder spins around in the air with her tail blade swinging around. Spyro flies away from her and goes back to the altar. He lands close to a flight of stairs. Cynder stops spinning to see Spyro on the platform. She glides down extending her metal claws at him. Spyro flies back at her ramming into her again. They both crash into each other. Together, losing control, they land on the platform. Spyro manages to get on her head to leave a scratch on her face. Cynder whips her head to one side to shake him off. Spyro lands on his feet, eyes continue to focus on the cursed Dragoness. She disappears in a shadowy mist and reappears next to him to flick him away. Spyro skids on the platform to the edge. He gets up and sees Cynder coming at him her tail blade scraping on the platform. Sparks spray out behind her. Spyro rolls over to dodge the sneak attack from the tail blade, away from the edge. Cynder tries to jab her tail blade on him but she keeps missing him. When Spyro is next to her left leg, he bites it down and Cynder shouts in pain. Spyro lets go quickly before she had the chance of touching him to kick her in the face with his front feet. Cynder then bites Spyro's right horn. She throws him hard on the ground and pounds him to the ground with her foot. Cynder lifts her foot to see if she has crushed Spyro completely but all she sees is a hole. She narrows her eyes at the hole, searching for him when the Purple Dragon bursts out of the ground of the platform underneath Cynder. The loyal servant is knocked over and Spyro gets in front of her face, hitting her couple of times. Cynder growls in anger and grasps her claws tightly on him. She throws him aside and he skids towards the altar. He ricochets off the first step and lands on the middle of the stairs. His legs have impacted on the sharp edge of the stairs. Spyro grunts and coughs as he tries to stand up. He has never been in this much pain in his life.

" _Who's idea was it to come here in the first place?_ " he asks himself in his head, " _Oh, yeah. That's right. Mine._ "

Cynder pants heavily, wearing scratches on her face and chest. She hangs her head down and breathes deeply to recover. Spyro feels he has lost and he let his friends down. He wishes he has not. He closes his eyes and waits for death to claim him in this place. But then, a voice, not the voice he heard early, sounds. He looks at the energy field in front of him and a face of an old Dragon appears. He has the same horns as Spyro does and his head is almost like his shape but bigger with a lengthen beard and sideburns.

"Greetings, Spyro," the Dragon says in a soothing voice with a smile.

"Who…Who are you?" Spyro stutters, his body still hurting.

"I am Vertico, the Purple Dragon before you," the Dragon replies.

Spyro gasps softly. He is talking to one of his Ancestors, the Purple Dragon who had defeated the Dark Master long ago. The spirited Purple Dragon chuckles from the reaction Spyro is making.

"I can't…I can't believe it," says Spyro, happen to be smiling. "I had no idea I would get to see you."

"If a Purple Dragon leaves a part of their power behind," Vertico replies, "you would be able to meet them face-to-face."

"Their power," Spyro repeats and a thought appears in his head. "Wait, if I'm talking to you here, that means…"

"That means this energy in the altar belonged to me," the Vertico completes his sentence. Spyro looks at him in amazement as he continues, "I left this here to imprison Malefor after I defeated him. I was the one who named this dimensional place after the power each Purple Dragon possesses."

"Convexity?" says Spyro amazed. "The power the Purple Dragons use is called…Convexity?"

"Yes," the spirit dips his head. "Convexity, also known as Aether, is the most powerful magic known to Dragon."

The young Purple Dragon is now more excited. He wants to know what this Convexity, Aether, power could do.

"Now, young Dragon," Vertico says, "you must finish what you started; free Cynder from the Dark Master's control."

"I will gladly do that," Spyro says, trying to stand. "But I don't know how."

"You can do it by using the Convexity inside you. It deals with pure cosmic and spirit energy. Your spirit is the source of Convexity. The way to wield it is by looking deep inside yourself. Everyone you befriended and loved strengthens it." Before Vertico disappears, he concludes, "And Spyro, with Convexity, we will be with you every step of the way."

Spyro gives him a dip of his head for a reply. Now that there is a new friend, he has taken his power of Aether to a new level. He can see Cynder on the reflection of the energy field fully recovered and moving closer to him. She unleashes a maniacal laughter.

"You're a fool to fight me, too weak to stop us," she tells him. "When Malefor is back, he and I will burn all the creatures of Dragon Realm in fire. What a pity you will not be around to see it."

"Spyro, get up!" Sparx yells to him in a far of distance away from Cynder. "She's going to kill you!"

Spyro stands up ignoring the pain on his legs to face Cynder. Then, his mind flashes back to everyone he met who trusted and loved him as he had trusted and loved, including his foster parents, Flash and Nina, the Glowing Dragonflies. Despite that he is not their kind; they will always be his parents. His mind comes back to the present. Cynder aims her tail blade at Spyro's heart and when she lunges it at him…purple energy forms all around Spyro protecting him from the attack. The blade on the tail bounces off it and hits the floor. Cynder gasps in surprise and starts walking backwards away from him. Spyro's purple eyes glow purple as he crosses them. Cynder releases Dark Electricity at him and Spyro…he fires Aether, a purple energy beam, from his mouth to collide her attack. The impact moves to Cynder and she tries to push it back to Spyro but it is too strong. The impact expands in front of her face and she is thrown to the edge of the platform. She gets up on her feet shaking her head and glances at Spyro. Spyro fires Aether again at her chest. Cynder flies in the air and goes back to Spyro, claws extended. The Purple Dragon fires his Aether beam at her to bring her back down to the platform. The cursed Dragoness gets up slowly panting and Spyro, figures this part out by himself, floats in the air with wings spread out. More Convexity energy flows around him like visible breeze in the air. Spyro unleashes a purple portal in front of him and then, Dragons completely covered in Convexity come out of it. Spyro recognizes them as the other Purple Dragons as he spots Vertico. It is hard to count how many there were in the world before he was born. They all hover around Cynder and, from their mouths, they released purple beams of light on her. Spyro did the same thing for he trusts that they know what they are doing. Cynder becomes stuck in it and she struggles to break free. The shackles on her neck, front ankles, and tale glint as they turn molten and they explode off of her. A black mist flows out of her body and drifts away in the void. Cynder screams loud while the mist flows out. All the Purple Dragons hold her until the black mist is completely out of her. The light from their mouths dim and Cynder lies on the platform on her chest. She is breathing heavily. The Convexity dies away from Spyro's body and eyes, and he feels very tired. Sparx comes down from above and hovers next to his friend.

"Spyro, you…were…AWESOME!" he shouts enthusiastically. "THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING YOU'VE EVER DONE!"

"Yeah," Spyro replies, panting. "No kidding."

The two of them look at the Purple Dragons who are still hovering around the fallen black Dragoness. They gaze upon them and beam at them with admiration. They all begin to vanish into thin air and Vertico gives Spyro a wink before vanishing. Spyro hopes against hope he will meet them again. His gaze falls on Cynder lying on the floor moaning. Out of nowhere, a violet outline appears around the shape of her body and it looks to Spyro as if she is shrinking. When she reaches Spyro's size, it stops. She is now a young Dragon, the same age as him. Her long horns become short and blunt. The tail blade looks more like a little dagger blade. The black scales change to violet. The red on her underbelly and membranes on her wings changes to magenta. The injuries on her head and chest have faded away. Her steady breathing shows that she has fallen into unconsciousness.

"She IS just like me," says Spyro, staring at the young Dragoness in amazement.

An energy surging noise stirs inside the altar, the beam gleaming brighter. Spyro notices right away his own feet are being dragged gradually toward it. He holds on to the platform tight and feels the force pulling to the altar. All the platforms and creatures in Convexity begin to get pulled into the altar. They disappear through the five force fields in it. One of the whale-like inhabitants flies past Spyro falling into the imprisoning structure. Spyro notices that Cynder, still unconscious, is moving closer to one of the stairs of the altar.

"Dude, we've got to get out of here…NOW!" shouts Sparx anxiously. "This entire place is getting sucked up!"

"I can't leave Cynder behind!" Spyro shouts back, looking at the helpless young Dragoness "I've got to save her!"

Sparx shoots him a shocking look. "What?" he screeches. "Save the beast that's been trying to kill us?"

"That wasn't her fault!" the Purple Dragon argues with him. "She was being used by the Dark Master!"

He glances back at her now being dragged along the stairs. Without hesitation, Spyro lets go of the floor to fly to Cynder with the help of the force pulling him in. He catches her with both of his feet just when she leaped off the stairs, halfway through the field. He flaps his wings hard to fly out of the suction. Slowly, Spyro leaves the unstable structure, keeping clear of rubble and creatures heading his way. To his joy, he can fly faster finally.

"Now we can go!" Spyro says to Sparx, flying to the portal from whence they came.

"I'm right behind you, buddy!" the yellow Glowing Dragonfly calls.

"Spyro…Spyro…Spyro…" the mysterious distorted voice whispers inside Spyro's head as he leaves the airlock dimensional place.

He looks back at the altar covered in light. Could it be the voice of Malefor, the Dark Master, who is escaping from deep within that prison? Spyro does not stop to find out and keeps going to the doorway. The doorway is getting smaller and the Purple Dragon and the yellow Glowing Dragonfly think it is keeping its distance from them. No, it is not getting away from them. It is closing. Spyro and Sparx try going as fast as they can. They brace themselves as they get close to the portal as it gets smaller, becoming almost the size of Spyro's. The next thing that Spyro and Sparx are feeling is wind. They open their eyes to see the land of Concurrent Skies. They roar with glee. Spyro can hardly believe it.

"We made it!" Sparx shouts, laughing.

The portal behind them closes and the closing makes a small purple expansion causing Spyro and Sparx to lose control of their flight and fall to the interior of Cynder's fortress. The Purple Dragon twists in the air, holding the unconscious Cynder tight, and feels his back hit the ground. He skids on it, gritting his teeth from the pain. The skidding halts and Sparx lands right next to him. Spyro's head drops hard and his claws slip off Cynder. He feels extremely tired his eyes could not stay open much longer.

He hears Sparx speaking weakly as darkness blinds him, "Mommy, fluff my pillow?"


	15. Epilogue - A New Beginning

**Here is the Epilogue**

* * *

Epilogue

A New Beginning

"Spyro, wake up," a female voice sounds in the blackness. "Wake up. We're home."

Spyro slightly opens his eyes with a blurry version. He rubs his eyes and blinks to fix it. For a second it becomes clear and Spyro sees he is in a room where soft blankets lie against walls. Torches blaze on their brackets. Close beside him is a young violet Dragoness looking down at him with emerald eyes and a little smile.

"Cynder?" moans Spyro, excitement creeps up in his heart. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," says Cynder, nodding. "Are you alright?"

"I guess so."

Spyro checks the wounds on him from his final battle with Cynder in her corrupted form. All of them have faded away to his surprise, even his legs no longer hurt at all.

"Groverge helped you with your injuries after Ignitus took us back here to the Temple," Cynder tells him. "He said Forest Dragons have their way of healing others by using plants as medicine and treatment."

"Wow," says Spyro. "I owe him one for that."

Besides that, he feels exhausted and his muscles are weak. He shakes his head not wanting to rest yet. He takes another gaze at Cynder's new appearance. She is still just the way he saw when he freed her from Malefor's control. Also…she looks beautiful. Then a thought came to him. The Guardians, masters, apprentice must have told her who she was now that she is back to normal. He wonders how she is taking it.

"I guess you know what happened to you, right?" he asks.

The violet Dragoness's smile fades away as she looks him in the eye. She inhales deeply and sighs slowly, her eye looking away.

"Yes," she says solemnly.

"I'm sorry," Spyro says quickly, thinking he offended her. "I…I didn't mean…"

"No, it's alright," Cynder replies. "I just don't feel like talking about it."

"Of course," Spyro nods. "Of course. I understand."

Cynder looks at Spyro again, her smile coming back, and says, "Thank you so much for saving me, by the way. Sparx told us what you did. It was very brave of you."

"Anytime," Spyro replies happen to be blushing. "Are the Guardians and my friends here?"

"Yes, they're here," says Cynder, nodding. "They're at the room of the Dragon Ancestor statue. Can you move?"

Spyro gives it his best to rise from the soft blanket he is lying on. His legs shake as they are too unstable for him to stand. Cynder puts her head under his, giving support.

"Lean on me," she tells him.

The Purple Dragon did so and together, they leave the room to the room of the statue of the Dragon Ancestor. When they open the door, Spyro sees me with Sparx, Volteer, Cyril, Terrador, Emberor, Zephyrav, Cragen, Boltor, Groverge, and Aquadus. The Dragon warriors and Sparx run to Spyro laughing happily overjoyed to see him awake. They give him hugs and press their heads against his. Cragen slaps his foot on his back hard which is obviously painful. Sparx flies in to hug his snout. Zephyrav gives him a friendly kiss on the cheek. Spyro smiles and nods to all of them through his drowsiness. The Guardians and I approach him.

"Feeling better, Spyro?" I ask.

"Not really, Ignitus," sighs Spyro. "That battle in Convexity drained every last bit of my strength. I can hardly lift my head."

I nod and say. "Yes, it will take some time for your powers to return." I add, assuring, "But they will in time, young Dragon. They will in time."

"You were legendary," Boltor tells him.

"Yeah," Aquadus says, making a curt nod, "totally."

I turn my gaze from Spyro to Cynder.

"Cynder," I begin, "ever since I failed the night of the raid, I've dreamt of this moment."

Cynder nods in response.

"It wasn't just you, Ignitus," Volteer reminds him. "We all failed."

The other Dragon Guardians and young Dragons nod in agreement.

"Be that as it may, Volteer," I say calmly, "we're together again now thanks to Spyro." To Spyro, I add with a big smile. "Well done, young Dragon."

The older Dragons holler with glee.

"You're the Dragon!" says Cragen.

"Victory goes to you!" says Zephyrav as Emberor shakes Spyro's shoulder with his foot.

"Thanks, guys," Spyro acknowledges and his heart starts beating remembering back in the world of Convexity. "But…we don't know what has happened to Malefor."

"No matter, Spyro," Terrador says, stepping in. "There will be time to talk about Malefor later. Now is the time to be grateful for your success."

Spyro smiles with gratitude. He's already grateful for his triumphant. Suddenly, Sparx zooms to Terrador's face and hovers in front of him.

"HIS success?" he exclaims. "What about ME? Just because a bunch of weird stuff that doesn't come flying out of my mouth doesn't mean that I didn't help, ya know!"

"Yeah, you were a big help, Sparx," the Purple Dragon assures him. "No doubt about it." Amusingly, he adds with a chuckle, "But just for the record…a lot of weird stuff does come out of that little mouth of yours."

Sparx's eyes open wide and he whips his head around at Spyro with fists on his hips.

"AND WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" he demands in anger. Making a dismissal gesture at him, he says to all of us, "You know, I don't need this! I could have stayed with the…llama people, whatever, where I was appreciated but no. No! I decided to help the poor helpless Dragons rid the world of evil! What a mistake that was because I get no thanks, no respect, no love, no credit, no anything!"

"My goodness," I laugh. "And I thought Volteer talked a lot."

Everyone laugh hysterically.

"I left home too, you know," Sparx continues in disappointment and we have taken the liberty of listening. "I'm a little guy. Yeah, that's right. Maybe you haven't noticed, but things are a lot bigger to me than they are to you. And did I back away? Uh-uh. Nah, nah, nah. Why, because I've got moxy. I'm a tough cookie. I've got class…" He starts coughing. "…I've got a fro…I got a little frog in my throat." He clears his throat and continues. "As I was saying, on Tall Plains, they knew a good thing when they saw it they recognized; the value of a quality Glowing Dragonfly like me…but here I get nothing. Not even a thanks, 'Hey, how are ya doing, good, let me buy you a drink'. I should go back to the swamp. Mom'll make it all better." He then begins to sob. "Mommy always does."

* * *

That night, in the Temple, Spyro wakes up from his slumber. He is sleeping in the same room he woke from with his friends; Cynder, who is curled up in a ball next to him on a blanket, Sparx, Emberor, Aquadus, Boltor, and Cragen snoozing on blankets of their own against the walls to his left.

Spyro's head is aching with worry. His mind is focused on the Dark Master ever since he had heard his voice from the altar. It is destroyed now and he could be anywhere. Spyro wonders if there is another chance he could find another shard of Convexity left by the Purple Dragons of the past. He could then see them and ask for more of their help like they did before. Wiping the sweat off his head, he leaves to go outside to calm himself. His friends did not wake to his relief.

In the halls, he hears giggling from the door to the Nesting Chamber. It is ajar. He peeks through the crack and sees Groverge and Zephyrav cuddling alone on a pile of colorful blankets in the darken room. The Wind Dragoness is lying on her back and the Forest Dragon is kissing her cheek. Zephyrav grins big sighing heavenly. Smiling a little at the couple, Spyro walks away from the door before they see him and carries on to the platform outside. He went all the way through the sleeping Guardians in the Pool of Visions without disturbing anyone. He went pass the statue, through the door, to the platform. The stars are burning bright in the black sky and the cold air blows. Sitting down, Spyro takes a deep cleansing breath and he looks up in the sky to see if there is any sign of the Dark Master. If he will be coming here, Spyro must be prepared. Metal clinking behind him disrupts both the silence and his concentration. He turns around to see Cynder approaching. Her claws tap the earth of the platform. She sits down beside him her tail curled around. The little tail blade lightly scrapes the floor.

"See anything?" Cynder asks quietly.

Spyro assumes she knows why he is out her. So he replies shaking his head, "No, but I've got a bad feeling."

"Me too," says Cynder. "Don't be scared, Spyro. You have all of your friends with you."

Spyro gives her a nudge on the shoulder to show his appreciation for her comfort and she gives him a smile he finds beautifully. He looks up at the sky again keeping a lookout as the moon and stars shine.

This is a new beginning. The young Purple Dragon is lucky to have us as fellow defenders. With us, he can do anything. We, the Dragons, will never rest until the evil is stopped. We will rise again to end it.

* * *

 **And that is the first story of Spyro. Not to worry, readers, I will not be stopping there. Besides, you have not seen anything yet. I will be working on the second part of Spyro's Tale. Be on the look out! Have a great day!**

 **Here are the chosen voice actors of my OC (Original Characters) and here is where the actors came from.**

* * *

 **Emberor - Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies, Jack the Giant Slayer, X-Men First Class)**

 **Aquadus - Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter series)**

 **Zephyrav - AnnaSophia Robb (Bridge to Terabithia, The Way Way Back, Khumba)**

 **Groverge - Josh Hutcherson (Bridge to Terabithia, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Epic)**

 **Boltor - Callan McAuliffe (I Am Number Four, Robot Overlords)**

 **Cragen - Lucas Till (X-Men First Class, Battle Los Angeles)**

 **Vertico - (Guest Starring) Derek Jacobi (The Secrets of NIHM)**

* * *

 **P.S. - I really enjoy reading reviews. Please take a moment and let me know what you think about my first fanfic.**


End file.
